Neverland
by WilderThanMe
Summary: Remy was living a perfectly normal life...that's all about to change in the form of a boy, different from the others, and a completely different world. Literally. Inspired from the SyFy miniseries, Neverland. Rated T for mild swearing.
1. Truth and Uncertainty

I was huddled up on the bench in the cold. A nearby radio on a windowsill announced it was below freezing and advised people to wrap up well before going outside. I tightened my arms more around myself. I still couldn't believe what had happened. It had been a perfectly normal Saturday morning when I had awoken in my bed. I got up, got washed and dressed, went downstairs to eat, the usual routine. Except I didn't always scream in the kitchen. That wasn't in my routine. Apparently, on the perfectly normal Saturday morning, it was. I stepped into the kitchen and stopped cold. My older stepsister Martina was lying on the floor, unconscious. Not moving. I scurried to her side and bent over her.  
"Martina? What's wrong? Please...wake up!" , I yelled. She didn't move. She didn't even stirr.  
"HELP! PLEASE!" , I thundered. Nobody else was up.  
"Martina..." , I whispered desperately. I checked her pulse. It was barely even there. She was slowly slipping away. "No...Martina, hold on,  
please..."  
I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to Ma and Joseph's room. I burst through the door in blind panic. Ma sat up.  
"Rem? What is it?" Joseph sat up beside her, looking dazed. "What's wrong?" , he said sleepily.  
I looked at them and burst into tears. "It's Martina!" , I said, gasping for breath between my heavy sobs. "I - I don't know what's happened to her...she won't wake up..."  
"Where is she?" , Joseph said, snapping into action.  
"K - kitchen..."  
He dashed pass me out the door. Ma held out her arms and I collapsed into them, a sobbing, shaking wreck.  
"She won't wake up..." , I whispered. "She wouldn't wake up."  
"I know honey. I know" , she said, stroking my hair.  
I could hear Joseph's distant voice pleading for help on the phone. I listened as he gave out our address, and Martina's condition.  
Barely breathing, he said.  
"Come on" , Ma said quietly, taking my hand. It was all a rush after that. The paramedics came and whisked Martina off in an ambulance with Joseph in the back. Ma got dressed, I packed a bag for Martina and we left for the hospital that Joseph had given us the name of. St. Jean's Hospital for Children was only ten minutes away although I had never heard of it. When we arrived we were just in time to see Martina on a trolley entering the emergency room. We legged it after her, only to be sent to the waiting room with empty promises about giving us more info as the day went on. They left Martina's bag with me,  
and a two second reassurance for Ma, who seemed to need to keep dabbing her eyes. She convinced me to go outside and get some air. I discovered there was a park just across the road from the hospital. That's where I was now, silently worrying. I studied the park. It wasn't much. A rickety old see-saw, the old bench I was sitting on and an old swingset. A boy sat on one of the swings,  
staring into space. I figured he might be in the same position I was. I started to shiver violently against the freezing breeze, and my head was pounding with blood. I only had time to throw on grey tracksuit bottoms, a plain white t-shirt and a red hoodie. I dropped my hood, exposing my face to the air. I could feel the boy look at me, and sighed, thinking he was another stupid old lad trying his luck. A few minutes after though, he was still staring. With intense concentration. I finally scraped my eyes away from the ground to look at him.  
He actually looked a bit like me. The same dark brown hair and eyes. He was wearing an old brown coat, black trousers and black shoes.  
Those kind of shoes men wear, with the little clicky heel. He was staring at me with excitement, and possible awe. I immidiately felt very self-conscious and stood up, turning to leave.  
"Wait!" , he called. I heard quick footsteps behind me.  
"What do you want?" , I asked quickly, still turned round.  
"I just - I just need to talk to you."  
"What for?" , I demanded, turning round to face him. "You don't know me...but you've been staring at me for the past ten minutes!"  
He stared straight into my eyes. I could see hints of sadness behind them.  
"Sit with me?" , he said quitely.  
I scowled but retreated back to bench and flopped down onto it. The boy sat beside me and faced me.  
"So" , I said airily. "Who are you, and what do you want with me?"  
He hesitated. "This is gonna sound really weird."  
"I'm intrigued."  
"Okay...well...look, I know you even though you probably have no clue who I am at all. I'm Peter...and...and..."  
"Go on" , I said suspiciously.  
"I need your help" , he finished.  
"You need my help" , I repeated.  
"Yes."  
"With what?"  
He looked around as if to make sure nobody was near, and drew in closer.  
"You're the only one who can save my world" , he whispered desperately. "You've GOT to help me."  
I took one look at his over the top serious face and started laughing. "Do I really look that stupid? I mean, come on -"  
"Our Shaman told us only one could save us" , Peter interrupted urgently. "She asked the spirits for help and you formed in the smoke."  
I stopped laughing. "What do you mean?" , I asked sternly.  
"You formed in the smoke and looked around at all of us. You stopped at me and disappeared."  
"Er - what...why...?"  
"It seemed you were willing to help. Which is why I am here."  
"And I know this isn't a joke because...?"  
"Your name is Remy Maria Kingsley and you're twelve years old. You're here because of your sister."  
I froze. "How did you know?" , I whispered.  
"Shamans" , he said precariously. "Are very skilled and accurate."  
I shook violently. "No" , I said through chattering teeth. "No. This is mad."  
"Please!",he said again. "Nobody else can save us! You're our only hope!"  
"I have to go" , I said quickly. "Just...don't tell anybody about this, okay?"

As I was going through the park gates, I sneaked a glance at the bench.  
He was already gone.

I hurried towards the entrance doors to the hospital, which automatically parted to let me in. Tears were welling in my eyes. It had been a very emotional couple of hours, but little did I know it was about to get a whole lot worse.  
Just as I was passing reception a trolley whizzed by me surrounded by lots of nurses and doctors. "Come on Martina, that's it, hold on love...it'll be all better soon" , one of the nurses said.  
I snapped. "WAIT!" I ran after the trolley.  
"What's wrong? What's happened to my sister?", I demanded when I had caught up with them.  
One of the male doctors gave the nurse who had been comforting Martina a look, and she nodded. She let go of the trolley and put a hand out to stop me. "Is Martina your sister, honey?"  
I nodded.  
"Let's sit down over here, hmm?"  
She took my hand and guided me to some hard plastic chairs in the hall, above them was an old murral with Disney characters on the sickly yellow painted wall.  
"Martina was not in a stable condition, she has been taken to surgery" , she said gently as I sat down.  
"But why? What's wrong with her?"  
"Do you know what Septicemia means, love?"  
I shook my head.  
"It means when you have a great cut on yourself, and it is not treated properly. Martina, er, sustained wounds on herself, and maybe didn't think much of them." She wouldn't meet my eyes.  
"My Mam is here, can I go to her?"  
The nurse looked relieved. "Of course, I spoke to her only minutes ago. This way."  
She led me to an even more depressing part of the hospital. Lots of people were in the room where my Ma was, nearly all of them with their faces in their hands, some praying silently, and a man was pacing. Nobody seemed to notice each other, but when I entered the room (the nurse had left me) , they all  
looked up hopefully. When they realized it was just another one of them, they all returned gloomily to staring at the floor, and the man continued his pacing.

Ma stayed looking at me. I knew immediately something was up. Her eyes were glistening with tears, and she looked weakened.  
"Love" , Ma said, standing and taking my hands. "There's something I need to tell you."  
"I already know, Ma. The nurse told me about the Septicemia."  
Ma just shook her head.  
"The nurse didn't tell you everything honey. I asked if I could tell you this part."  
"Ma." My voice started to sound panicky. "What's wrong?"  
"You already know that Martina has Septicemia because of cuts?"  
"Yes."  
"Love...this is going to be a bit hard to take, okay?"  
"Okay."  
"Martina was cutting herself, honey. She " - Ma sniffed loudly -"she wasn't happy."


	2. The Unmistakable Scream

I woke curled up in my duvet. At first I thought it was one of those perfectly normal mornings. I sighed and stretched and closed my eyes again.  
Then I remembered.  
"Shit!"  
I desperately scrambled out of my bed and raced down the stairs to find Ma on the couch in the living room cradling a glass of wine, staring into space. "Ma?"  
She looked up.

"Oh good, you're awake."  
"But what happened?"  
"You fainted, honey. After I told you about Martina."  
"Oh." I vaguely remembered sustaining a large bang to my head, but that was all.  
"Where's Joseph?"  
"He's with Martina in the hospital. I drove you home."  
"How did Martina get on in the operation?"  
Ma patted the space beside her. "Sit down love. I need to tell you one last thing."  
I did as she asked, and she took my hand.  
"When Martina has recovered from the operation and is stable enough to leave the hospital, she will be starting up in a centre."  
"What kind of a centre?"  
"To help her with her problems."  
"How long will she be going there for?"

Ma hesitated.

"She'll be staying over, sweetheart. Possibly for a few months."  
"Is it that bad?" , I asked sadly.  
She squeezed my hand. "She'll be better once it's over love. We can visit her tomorrow, if you like."  
"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."  
She gave me a weak smile. "Great. That's settled then."

That night in bed I did a great deal of tossing and turning. I couldn't sleep because I was so worried about Martina, and I was even more confused than worried about Peter, if that was even his real name. I wondered if I had imagined him, but I decided that I wasn't that great a daydreamer.  
It couldn't have been a joke. How would he know my name, when I've never even seen the guy before? And then all the begging about helping his 'world' ? What did that even mean? I was deeply unsettled by the mysterious events, but eventually I drifted away in sleep, unaware of how confusing and difficult my life would become, all in the form of a young boy asking for help.

I entered the ward with my hand wrapped around my mother's. There were six beds on each side of the room, all occupied. A young girl was sitting on a bed on the left, pillows propped up behind her. She had a wound on her right cheek, covered in plasters, and her leg was in a cast.  
She gave me a brief smile and I uncertainly gave her a little wave. I looked straight ahead to the very end of the ward, and I saw a man with his head in his hands. It caught me off guard, because his shoulders were shaking uncontrollably and there was some very loud sobs. I continued to search for Martina's bed, but to my surprise Ma pulled me towards the man. She stopped in front of him and hugged him hard.  
I realized the crying man was Joseph. His eyes were red and he had dark circles under them, looking like a child who played with their mother's make-up. He embraced my Ma's hug with gratefulness and continued crying into her shoulder. I looked at the bed in front of us, and tears began making their way down my cheeks. My stepsister, Martina was asleep in the bed. She would look so peaceful and beautiful if it weren't for the the deep scatches and cuts on her arms. I put my hands to my mouth and shook my head.  
"Oh, Martina..." , I whispered to her. "Why did you do this?"

It all started to make sense as the hours went by. Martina had recently accustomed to wearing jumpers and long-sleeved jackets, which everyone thought was a bit weird. Martina liked to show off as much as possible. She claimed she was just cold. That was her excuse for everytime one of us asked her about it, so we left it at that. None of use could ever have imagined the real reason.  
I was sitting on yet another hard plastic chair, focusing on the floor. Joseph and Ma were sitting on the other side of the bed on chairs, talking quietly. We had long since drawn the curtains around the area for privacy. I was just sitting there, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for Martina to wake up. I wanted to know why she had done this to herself. Martina was very popular in her school, and she had boys after her and friends who stuck with her no matter what. She never showed any signs of depression, or anything else like that. Sure, we may have had a rocky start after Joseph married Ma and they came to live with us, but we got it sorted out in the end. Martina and I used to hate each other, but now we were like real sisters. I told her everything, she told me everything. Or so I thought.  
I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Joseph and Ma were looking at me.

"Hey, honey? Why don't you go to that park again?" , Ma said. "I saw it on the way in, it looks nice. Go on, we'll get you if Martina wakes up."

I looked up. "If?"

Ma sighed. "Sorry, love. I meant when. Go on now."

I trudged out of the hospital and over to the park. I entered it warily, for fear that I might see Peter again. Cautiously, I looked at the swingset and the bench. Even the rickety old see-saw. Nobody was there.  
I breathed a sigh of relief and fell back onto the bench. It was still freezing cold. I was wearing the same clothes as the day before. My hoodie didn't give much warmth, so again I ended up wrapping my arms around myself to preserve as much body heat as possible before I froze and got stuck to ther chair. Then I heard it.  
It was kind of unexpected. You don't hear much of it usually, unless you're maybe in a screaming band, or a fan of one. Or maybe if you're watching a soap, like Coronation Street or Home and Away.

I unmistakeably heard, through the cold, crisp air, a scream.  
I also unmistakeably heard in the scream, something I will never forget.  
"MARTINA! NO!"  
It was Joseph.


	3. Silent Tears

I started running. It was almost like running for my life. But it was only one bit different. I was running for Martina's.  
I pushed past everybody to get to Joseph. He was still screaming Martina's name. I started gasping for air but I refused to stop. I skidded into the room where Martina was but nobody was there. It was around one o'clock, so maybe everyone had gone for lunch. They were well enough.  
Except for Martina.  
My Ma started to scream. It echoed through the whole hospital and sent shivers down my spine. I followed the screams as they bounced off the walls in the corridors, causing people to stop and look around. Then they shrugged and went about their business. It had nothing to do with them. I ran and ran until I came to a bright red-floored hall. A nurse was standing outside a door, looking very distressed. My Ma screamed again,  
and she jumped. It came from behind that door. I walked up to the nurse, waiting to pass.

"I'm sorry pet, I can't let you in there" , she said quietly.

"Why not?"

"It's...occupied."

I heard loud choking sobs that I recognised instantly as my mother's.

"Please" , I whispered. "Why is my Ma crying?"

The nurse looked at me in horror.

"Is that your poor mother?"

I nodded.

"Sit here with me a minute, pet" , she said, indicating to a window seat in the bay window across from us. She reminded me of the previous nurse who told me about Septicemia. "I'll wait with you."  
I nodded again. I knew what I had to do.  
The nurse turned her back to me. It was only a split second chance that I had, but I was taking it. I darted for the door and burst in. To my surprise, it was a hospital toilet. Joseph was sitting on the ground crying for all it was worth, and my Ma was doing the same into his shoulder.  
I took a step forward.

"Joseph" , I whispered. "What happened? Where's Martina?"

He opened his eyes and looked at me. His eyes were welled full of tears ; you could no longer tell they were the striking green that Ma loved.  
He shook his head and shut his eyes again, as if trying to escape from the world. Then Ma looked up.

"Remy? No, no darling, you shouldn't be here, not now..."

"Mam?" My voice was rising now. "Where's Martina?"

Tears started to flow more quickly down her cheeks than ever. She got up from Joseph's side and pulled me into a hug.

"Where's Martina?" , I repeated.

She hesitated, but told me six words that would haunt me forever.

"Martina's in a better place now" , she whispered softly.

Two Weeks Later

"Martina...where can I begin to describe her? My sister, my best friend, a person who I could talk to. If I was having a glum day, Martina would be there for me in an instant. I told her everything...and she listened. And then she resolved the situation by giving me "The Three Gifts" . A kiss,  
a hug and a wish. The wish was for a better day, and it always worked. Martina made magic for me when I needed it most, when I needed her most. I will never ever forget her, as long as I live. She was a true spark that brightened up my day." I paused and looked at the smooth polished wood. "Say hi to Bessy for me, eh?" , I whispered. I grabbed up my papers from the stand and left the podium, brushing tears away from my eyes. Joseph and Ma were standing, waiting for me.

"That was beautiful, darling" , Ma said gently. "Martina would be very proud."  
I nodded and Joseph squeezed my shoulder.

The priest closed his book. "Martina Josephine Kingsley, may you Rest In Peace."

I saw the sheen of the golden name plaque for the last time as the coffin slowly entered the ground. People started to leave, many of them pressing money into my hand or patting me on the back. I felt a bit disgusted, actually. With the money. I mean, it's not like everything's going to get better because I can buy a few things for myself. I told this to Ma.

"They're only trying to take your mind off it" , she whispered.

I felt confused. How could I take my mind off it, when I was standing right there, in the graveyard, watching my sister being left in the ground? To be buried, and to never see daylight again? And I would never see her again. I looked at Joseph.

"Can we leave now?" , I asked quietly.

Joseph sighed. "Yes" , he said. "It's upsetting us all. Go and say one last goodbye to your sister, Remy."

I did as he asked. I moved towards the hole in the ground, the coffin as clear as ever in the bottom. I stared intently at it for a second and I closed my eyes.

"I'm not sure why you did it sis, but I hope you're in a happier place now", I whispered. "I'm gonna meet up with you someday, I promise. But hey, I'm sure your mother is up there too with you, so you'll be fine until I get there. And don't forget to say hi to Bessy for me."

I blinked and my eyes let a few silent tears escape.

"And I love you."

CLINK. CLINK. CLINK.

I moaned and sat up in my bed.

CLINK. CLINK.

Pebbles were being thrown at my window, one by one. I squinted as I got up and opened the window. I peered out, and someone was standing there.

"Go home!" , I yelled. "Quit annoying me!"

"Remy, it's me!"

"Who?"

"Peter!"

I groaned. "What are you doing here? And how do you know where I live?"

"Just come outside? Please?"

"If this is the shit about saving this that and the other, then you're getting a box."

"I'll take that as a yes."

I rolled my eyes, grabbed my navy hoody to wear over my pyjamas, and tiptoed out of my room. Ma and Joseph's bedroom door was open a crack, and I couldn't resist taking a peep. I could hear Joseph snoring. Ma was a great snorer too, but I couldn't hear her.

She's probably awake, I thought guiltily. There was great tension in the house. It had been threee days since the funeral, and Ma was actually the worst out of all of us. Joseph and me privately agreed that someone needs to be with her at all times, in case she did something stupid. But I was wary of Joseph too. He let on he was coping, but I knew he was a wreck. He went to the bathroom about ten times a day. I got suspicious and listened outside the door one day, and I could hear quiet sobbing. I didn't tell Ma and I didn't tell Joseph I knew, it felt better to suffer the pain alone and in silence. It was how we were all coping. As for me, I cried myself to sleep every night. I know that sounds as if I might be an attention seeker, but I wasn't. I wasn't great at showing emotions in front of people.

I tiptoed down the stairs, opened the front door quietly and slipped outside, shutting it behind me.


	4. Explaining in the Dark

"You took your time."

I jumped. Peter was perched on the oak tree beside the front wall, twirling something around in his hands. He jumped down and grinned at me.

"What do you want Peter?" , I hissed. "Do you know what I've been through in the last few days? I don't think I can take anymore shit."

He frowned at me. "Why are you always cursing?"

"What does it matter? Why are you here, Peter? What do you want?"

"You know what."

I glared at him. "Be a bit more specific."

"I need your help! We all do!"

"Who's 'we'?"

He sighed. "This is difficult, I know."

"Then explain it to me! So far I've gathered you want my help with 'your world'? What does that mean?"

"Just sit with me" , he said, indicating to the tables and chairs on the further side of the garden.

I groaned. "Back to square one."

He laughed. "Maybe, yeah."

I sat on one of the chairs and suddenly felt very emotional. Just months before we all sat there on a sunny afternoon eating, Joseph, Ma, Martina and me. The feeling of Martina's chair never being occupied by herself again stirred up my stomach until it was in knots.

"Hello? Come in, Remy..."

I came back to earth unwillingly. I wanted to hold onto those memories and pretend they were still real and happening in front of me.

"So" , I said briskly. "Explain."

He hesitated. "Back in 1906, I was an orphan. Well. I still am. Anyways, I was in a group. Me and my friends pick-pocketed, just to help us get by. We lived in a small sort of apartment provided for us by a man called...James Hook. He rescued all of us, from workhouses and the sort. One day, he asked us to break into a posh jewelry shop. I was very excited, but the boys didn't think it was a good idea. Jimmy retaliated -"

"Jimmy?"

"James."

"Oh, right. Continue."

"- Jimmy retaliated anyways, and I was disappointed. I wanted to be partners with him one day, see. So I told the boys Jimmy was still going ahead with the plan" , he said sheepishly. "And we actually got into the jewellers, only to be caught by Jimmy who was there himself. The boys found out that I was lying, and they were angry. I followed Jimmy into a room at the back. He seemed to be looking for something in particular.  
Then he found a small wooden chest. The boys came in and he asked me to find something to crack it open. I went to look for something, and I found this -" he holded up the thing he was twirling around in his hands "-and then from what the boys told me, Jimmy found what he was looking for."

"What was it?" , I asked, suddenly wanting to hear more.

"A glass orb. Not just any old one though. It had powers so unimaginable that it was hard to believe."

"Try me."

"A door to another world."

I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. One hard knock and anything within a metre of it will be taken to another world, so different from this one. Anyways, Jimmy fell and the orb activated. Him and the lads were gone." Peter sighed. "I thought it was a bomb. But I soon found out what it really was. Jimmy was working for a man called . Fludd wanted the orb, and I came into contact with him. I decided it was up to me to get the lads back and I entered the world."

"Smart."

He grinned. "Yeah. I know. But still, I found the boys...the Indian tribe welcomed us and we stayed with them. And then..." , he trailed off sadly.

"And then?" , I pestered.

"Something happened to Jimmy" , Peter said quietly. "Who knows what. Maybe it was greed, or lust. Probably both and others."

"What did he do?"

"Joined up with the pirates. Thought they were good. The captain of the ship, Captain Elizabeth, decided he was useful. Soon they were in some sort of relationship, and Jimmy turned on us."

Peter snorted. "And do you know what he did? Because of him, one of my best friends was murdered. But wait, here's the best part! He himself killed my dad out of jealousy!"

"Jealousy of what?"

"My Mother! He loved her, but decided she would be ten times happier if her partner was dead! He lost in the little 'love triangle' , and he refused to accept it! Mother was expecting me and all!"

He took the object he was holding and thrusted it into the table, creating a little hole. He quickly took it out again and looked at me.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm sure Ma won't notice."

"So...what do you think?"

I frowned. "About what?"

"Um...what we were just talking about?"

"Right...that..."

"Do you believe me? Will you help us?"

"But what do you need help with?"

"Our world is dying, remember?"

"But why me?"

He shrugged. "Search me."

"Are you sure that the Shaman wasn't wrong? That maybe she got her voodoo mixed up a bit?"

He shook his head, smiling a little. "Nope. Like I said, Shaman's are very skilled and accurate. This one hasn't been wrong yet, and I highly doubt she got this wrong."

I bit my lip, hundreds of different thoughts flying around in my head, banging off my skull.

"Well? Do you think you can do this?"

I sighed and gave him a weak smile. "I don't suppose I have a choice, do I?"

He grinned. "Let's go then."

My smile disappeared. "What? Now?"

"Yep."

I debated in my head. What will I do when Ma and Joseph wake up to find me gone? What about school? And everything else in my life I was considering to leave behind, to help a different world I didn't know exsisted till now?

"Hey" , Peter said quickly. "You okay? You look a bit weird."

"I'm fine" , I heard myself say. "Just give me two minutes." I stood up and made my way back to the front door.

"Why? Where are you going?"

"I have to sort out a few things." I opened the door and slipped back inside, unheard. I crept up the stairs, relieved to hear both Ma's and Joseph's snores as I passed their room and into my bedroom. I sighed and began to change clothes. Some lads might think this a bit weird,  
but I know I'm not getting caught in my crossbone kitty pyjama's in a new world where I don't know anybody.  
I pulled on blue skinny jeans, and I discovered that were a bit big for me. I sighed and wrapped a black belt around my waist, buckling it shut. I removed the pyjama top and tugged a white checked shirt over my head and then dragged my jacket back on. I stumbled round my room in the dark, trying to quietly look for footwear. My light was really bright and very visible along the hall and I was paranoid Joseph or Ma might wake up and notice. My door also had a loud squeak, so I couldn't close it over.  
I finally found a pair of soft ugg boots under my desk and pulled them on, grateful for the fluffy inside. I tiptoed out of my room, pausing in the hall once more to look in the door of Ma and Joseph's bedroom. I opened the door a bit more and I saw my Ma fast asleep, cradling a picture of Martina and me. I felt a large twang of guilt.

This would destroy her. She lost Martina, and now she's losing me for a period of time. That's no excuse though. I blinked back tears as I quickened my steps down the stairs and left the house, closing the door once again.  
Peter was standing at the wall.

"Ready?"

I sighed. "Yeah" , I said. "Ready."


	5. Orchestra of Sounds

He nodded. "Come" , he said quietly. "This way." He left the front garden and turned right down the path, past all the identical houses. I stole one last glance at mine, tears escaping as they slid down my cheeks like wet snakes. Maybe I'm going mad, I thought as I turned again to face straight ahead. This was causing me a lot of…pain. Well, I'd be feeling a lot of pain anyways. Martina's tragic ending wasn't going to ever rest with me, especially not three days afterwards. I picked anxiously on the sleeve of my hoodie, unsure of whether the decisions I had just made were the completely wrong ones.  
But Peter and the rest of them needed my help. I kept this thought in my mind for a minute or so before it morphed into my Ma or Joseph finding my empty bed in the morning. They assumed I was downstairs, eating breakfast or watching telly. Joseph came down expecting to see me, but he didn't. Ma began worrying, biting her lip. That evening they filed a missing person's report in the Garda's Station…and then…

"Remy" , Peter said. "Hello? Earth to Remy?"

I blinked, escaping my trance and looked at him. "Hi."

He just chuckled. "We're here."

I frowned and looked at the space surrounding us, recognising it as the back of the old playschool I used to attend as a kid. It closed down the year after I started primary school, and was now nothing more than a graffiti covered building that was home to many disgusting smells. I had looked in one day when I saw the windows were newly broken. The entire place was trashed.

"Why here? What's this place got to do with anything?"

"Because" , he said, bending down and starting to scatter a pile of leaves away. "No one would think of this place as a hiding spot for the most magical and powerful object in the world."

I copped it. "The Orb?"

"Yes." The leaves were finally away, whirling about the path in the small gust of wind that weaved through the air. I looked at the spot where the leaves once were and literally gasped. A beautiful object occupied the spot ; it looked like a crystal ball, the kind that fortune tellers look into. I was astonished as it gathered light, shining like a star. Almost as if it had awoken from a long slumber.  
Peter picked it up carefully, I was gazing at it as it moved, oblivious to anything else. I began to make out trees, lots of trees. And bushes. A wood, perhaps. Peter looked at me, and laughed at my spellbound face.

"Well, it's time to go."

"Wow" , I whispered in awe. "This is just…wow."

Peter merely grinned. "I'm used to it."

I stuck my tongue out at him, tearing my attention away from the Orb.

"I meant the magical world inside the Orb, not you."

He laughed again. "Are you ready?" , he asked, suddenly serious. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

I nodded.

He pulled the thing he was twirling around in his hands earlier. I could finally make out what it was in the light of the Orb. It was a small silver knife, but a very fancy one. It had many designs engraved on it, swirling and twirling their way around each other, appearing to be coiled.

"Just keep calm" , Peter told me briefly. "You'll be safe once you enter Neverland."

"Oh, is that what it's called?"

He didn't seem to hear me. He raised his knife a little over the orb.

"One" , he whispered. "Two….Three!"

He slammed the knife down on the Orb, and everything became white. I was spinning, like I was caught in a tornado. I had just began to scream when I landed on ground.

I gasped, trying to recover and get some more oxygen into my lungs. I sucked in and out for a few seconds before finally opening my eyes. I gasped again.

Green trees towered above me, waving about gently. The leaves were rustling quietly, like they were whispering to each other, and the sky was a pure ocean blue with no clouds in sight. I sat up slowly, taking it all in. The fallen leaves beneath me crunched, but it only added to the beautiful orchestra of nature the magical place was conducting for me. Every slightest sound was amazing to me. Even the birds songs seemed different to those I woke up to back home. They seemed more well pronounced, more carefully thought out. I smiled happily. I hadn't been there five minutes and the place was already making me feel great and happy, not a care in the world. I got to my feet and took in more of the new world. Just as I saw back at the playschool, there were plenty of trees and bushes. I felt a tingling feeling inside me, dancing happily and carefree around my body. I had to admit, I was a bit confused about Peter when he said Neverland was dying. It looked perfectly fine and healthy to me.  
But I felt an annoying niggling feeling inside me, and after a few seconds of concentration on it, I realized.

"Peter?" , I called. I spun around once taking in everywhere I could see. I appeared to be on my own. At first I was a bit worried about him, but then the knowledge that Peter obviously knows this place well comforted me and that he was safe. Then I was pissed off. He had left me, God knows why, but deliberately even so, and I had no clue where everyone was? And here I was, in the middle of a wood with nobody around?  
After cursing Peter and calming myself down, I took it into my own hands to search for the Indians. Then I remembered his crew he was talking to me about. Well, they obviously knew English and more modern stuff, even though they left home in 1906. I hoped they would be easier to talk to if I found one of them.  
I was a bit afraid of venturing out alone. Peter had told me I would be safe, but how did I know I could trust him after this? I sighed. My thoughts were overwhelming my brain immensely, and I decided that I had to go looking for people. I also had plans for boxing Peter if I met up with him. I took a few steps forward and then continued into long strides. I soon became comfortable and the worries disappeared from my mind, and instead it was full of the same happiness I had endured when I first landed there. I unzipped my hoodie and ended up taking it off. Just as I was tying it around my waist I heard a THUD. I jumped and turned to see my Blackberry lying on the leaves. I didn't even know it was in my pocket. Grinning, I picked it up and put it in my jeans zip pocket, knowing it was safe in there.  
After a while I started to worry again. I hadn't seen anything that suggested people were there and not too far away. I yanked on a strand of my hair. It was a habit of mine. I did it when I had a mind block, making myself think I was forcing the thoughts to come out, and it had always worked until now. I rolled my eyes in frustration and kept walking, quickening my pace. I was just about to give up all hope of finding anything, when I discovered to my utter delight a small dirt track. I laughed at myself for being afraid when all I had to do was have a little patience.  
I followed the dirt track gratefully, for it gave me peace of mind. The peace turned into pissed-off-and-anxiety-combo when it stopped in front of a small waterfall after ten minutes. The glistening water fell from rocks above, a river running behind them. I looked from left to right, and all there was was rock walls.

"Great" , I spat. "This is just fucking great." I paced back and forth, saying every swear I could think of. And after my seventh time crossing from the left, to my complete disbelief, an arrow shot past and disappeared through the waterfall. I swore louder.

"What the hell!" , I yelled. "Come out, show yourself, you little –"

"Shut up! Stay still, or I'll shoot again! And I assure you, I won't miss a second time!" , a voice yelled.

I started to yell back but then realized it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Instead I unwillingly stood still and held my hands up in surrender, facing the waterfall for a small fear of the person's threat. I heard cracking leaves, and I knew the person had moved out from the trees.

"Don't move an inch, pirate!"

I frowned. "Pirate?"

"Be quiet!"

"No no no, you have it wrong. I'm not a pirate –"

"I said be quiet!"

"OKAY!" , I yelled. "Jesus! Ever thought of anger management once in a while? That could really help you!"

"Shut up! What's your name, pirate?"

I tried a different tack. "You know, you don't seem very brave. I mean, you have me in a dead end, and my back is facing you, so you could kill me at any minute."

"Turn around then!"

"Of course" , I replied happily.

I turned around quickly to face a curly ginger-haired boy. His brown eyes connected with mine, and they searched my face carefully. Then they widened in awe. He dropped his arrows and bow in his hands and they fell with a clatter.

"You" , he said, astonished. "You."

"Me" , I said sweetly. "Y'know, if I have to save your world, I would expect a little more gratefulness. Don't get me wrong though, getting shot at with an arrow was really nice. A great welcoming."

He shook his head and stared at me again, as though trying to verify whether I was a figment of his imagination or a real person. I winked at him, and he scowled.

"Peter found you then?" , he grumbled.

"Yep!" , I replied brightly. "Isn't that lucky? Now I can save Neverland and have new best friends all at the same time!"

He scowled again, and I could tell we weren't going to get on greatly.

"Jeez" , I muttered. "Tough crowd."

He shot me a dirty look.

"What?" , I said, breaking the sarcastic sweet girl act. "Honestly!"

The boy did nothing but scowl and his eyes swivelled around the area, eventually resting on me. I stared right into them, and he looked away.

"Well" , I said. "This has been really lovely. But if you'll please excuse me, I have to go find Peter."

I started to walk. "Wait!" , I said sarcastically, tapping myself on the head in mock stupidity. "I wouldn't suppose you know where he is?"

"Yeah" , the boy grumbled again.

"Well, I would be very grateful if you could possibly spare a moment of your time to take me to him? Or the Indian tribe, perhaps?"

"Fine" , the boy said. I noticed he had an English accent. "Just follow me and keep up."

"Aye aye, captain" , I replied, rolling my eyes. "Lead the way."

"Right, and-"

"Wait" , I interrupted. "Wait. Were you one of the boys in Peter's crew back in London?"

He looked startled. "How'd you know about that?"

"Peter told me. He told me everything –" I exaggerated on the 'everything' "- including James Hook."

The boy looked angry. "You're just full of surprises, you are."

I grinned at him. "One of my best qualities. Well, are we going then? Or do we have to wait until you recover from your next little fit?"

He scowled at me once again. "We're going."

"Brilliant. As I was saying, lead the way."

Author's Note : Hehe! I LOVED writing this chapter, particularly so I could express Remy's humorous side. I'm really happy about the response on this story, in the views alone. But it would help to have a few more reviews guys! I've been taking the ones I actually got into consideration, good or bad, it has improved my writing from what I could see! So please guys, R&R! Oh, and chapter six out soon! Love you all! xxx


	6. Unravelling the Secrets

He stopped. "We're here" , he muttered. "Follow me."

"That shouldn't be hard, considering I have been for the last half an hour" , I said, grinning.

He glared at me. "Just keep up and SHUT up."

I stopped grinning and glared back at him. "What's up with you? What did I do to make you so bloody angry with me? Honestly, you're more bad tempered than a hormonal pregnant woman."

He just threw me another one of his dirty looks and kept going. I was utterly unexplainably confused as to what I had done on him to deserve this. Okay, I admit that maybe my comebacks were a little harsh. Throughout my life I was always told to think before I spoke, time and time again. But this was different, because I was simply defending myself, and he certainly wasn't thinking before he spoke, so I didn't see why I had to.  
I had become so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't see my guide stop, and mistakenly walked straight into his back.

I blinked and then winced. "Oops" , I said quickly. "Sorry."

He didn't even bother turning around. I peeped over his shoulder to see what he was doing, and he lifted his hand to cover my eyes.

"Don't look" , he said, irritated. "It's secret."

I rolled my eyes (for probably the hundredth time that day). He knocked on something that sounded like wood, three times. One slow one and two quick ones. Something sounded like it was opening, and I guessed it was a door into the Indian camp.

"Oh, hey Curly" , a male voice said.

I grinned and the boy, who I now knew as Curly, winced.

"Hey, mate" , he said tiredly.

"Who's that behind you?"

"It's our one and only 'Heroine of Neverland' ."

"Seriously?" , the voice said, sounding astonished.

"Yeah" , Curly said. "We've got to cover her eyes, you know the drill."

A boy stepped out with a thick cloth held up. He stopped immediately when he saw me and gazed the way Curly had done.

I grinned at him. "Hiya."

"Well, hello there" , he said, smiling from ear to ear. "If you don't mind, m'lady, I'm going to have to cover your eyes. As a precaution."

Curly snorted before I had the chance to reply. "Lady? I wouldn't call her that, Toots. She's not a lady of any kind. She's wearing men's clothes."

"These are not men's clothes" , I said instantly.

Curly smirked. "You're wearing those weird trousers and boots. Of course they are."

"Times have changed since you were last back in the normal world, my friend" , I said icily. "Although I'm sure you were a serious fan of puffy dresses and bonnets back in the day."

His smirk disappeared while the other boy cracked up laughing.

"Funny, you are" , the other boy said, wiping tears away from his eyes. He wrapped the cloth around mine and carefully leaded me in through the entrance. I heard a loud bang which I presumed was the door shutting.

"What's the point of covering my eyes if I've seen where the door is?" , I asked, confused.

"Because when we come out of the caves, there'll be more shrubbery and trees. Then there's the camp, well tucked away. You won't be able to find it without one of us to –"

"Tootles!" , Curly roared. "Shut UP!"

"I'm telling her the basic facts, Curly! Now will you quit your temperamental state and come back to normal before we all tear our hair out!"

I snorted with laughter just imagining Curly's face at being told to 'quit his temperamental state' .

"So" , my guide said after a few silent minutes. "What's your name?"

"Remy."

"Remy? Haven't heard of that before."

"Really? What's your name then?"

"Tootles."

I grinned blindly. "Well, if you don't mind me saying, I don't think I've ever heard of the name Tootles before either."

"Really?" , Tootles said happily. "Brilliant!"

I frowned. "What d'you mean?"

"I like my name being unique."

I considered this before just shrugging and going with the flow.

"Heroine of Neverland" , Tootles said dreamily after another few minutes.

I laughed. "Excuse me?"

"That's what everyone calls you in the camp, y'know. That's what the Shaman called you. A Shaman is –"

"It's okay, I know what it is. Peter told me all about that day when I…er…appeared in the smoke…"

Suddenly I was stopped. "We here then?" , I asked.

"Nope. We're just leaving the passage now. We'll be at the camp in around four minutes."

I sighed.

"Oh, cheer up" , Curly said sarcastically. "You'll be able to show off to all the others when we get there. You just have to be patient."

I simply gave another sarcastic sigh while Tootles groaned. I heard another door being opened and I was pulled out into fresh air and birdsongs. I guessed we were back in the forest, the Indian's Village.

"Honestly Curly" , Tootles said tiredly as he carefully guided me along, holding my hand. "We'll have to go on another adventure soon, before you drive us all mental."

"About time" , Curly muttered.

"Well excuse me" , Tootles said, sounding pissed off. "It's not my fault Neverland has taken a turn for the worst. And –"

"Hold on" , I interrupted. "I'm actually a bit confused about that part. Peter basically told me that I'm destined to save this place. He said it's dying. And I don't know about you guys, but it looks pretty fine to me."

"Yeah" , Tootles said sadly. "This is the first time it's actually been okay."

"Okay?" , I said, surprised. "It's absolutely beautiful!"

"Maybe" , Curly said grudgingly. "But it could be a lot better."

I shook my head. "You're taking it for granted."

Curly was about to reply when Tootles interrupted him.

"We're here!" , he said cheerfully, the sorrow from moments before seemingly disappearing. I felt something at the back of my head and the blindfold was released. I opened my eyes and gasped, staring wordlessly at the Indian Village and its occupants. They stared back at me, and I felt about a hundred different pairs of eyes swerving in my direction. All of them had caramel skin and were wearing odd clothes, covered in symbols and beads. They were beautiful. I heard strange whisperings, in language I couldn't recognise.

I did however, recognise one voice.

"Remy!" , Peter yelled happily. I looked at the crowd, but I couldn't see his face amongst the others.

"Up here!"

I looked up towards the sky and my mouth dropped open in astonishment. Peter was lying back with his hands behind his head in mid air, grinning at me. He lowered down until he was just inches above me.

"I see you got here! Thanks Tootles!"

"Oh no" I said sweetly. "Dear Curly here found me in the first place, didn't you?" I turned to look at him.

"Oh..uh..yeah…I did.."

"Good job, mate" , Peter said.

Curly shot me a confused look, but I just shrugged and turned back to Peter.

"I think I've got to speak to the Indians, don't you?"

He nodded and lowered to the ground, taking position beside me.

"Aaya?" , he called. "Can you translate for us?"

There was a lot of shuffling in the crowd until a beautiful Indian girl joined us. She smiled at me.

"I'm so grateful that you've come" , she said kindly.

I grinned at her. "I've got to help, right? I can't just leave you guys screwed."

Aaya laughed. "I will translate for you" , she told me.

I nodded and looked out to the crowd, who stared at me hopefully.

"Good evening" , I said, and Aaya repeated it in the strange language.

"I…I'm from where you all came from. Earth. And on Earth, we deal with a lot of tragedies. Tsunami's, earthquakes, tornados and many more disasters hold most of us upright with fear. Fear of dying, fear of others…people that you care about…dying. Other times, people die for many other reasons. Murder, suicide, accidents…." I drifted off hesitantly, not completely sure where I was going with this.

"And a few days ago, I was approached by Peter. He let me know of your situation..and at first I thought….well….I wasn't going to have any involvement. I was more than confused at the time with so many other things….but then, I came to terms with my destiny…..and that's to help you guys, and to save Neverland. I'll try my complete and absolute best to bring it to peace, I give you all my word."

I finished quietly, looking at Aaya as she finished too. She looked impressed with my off-the-top-of-my-head speech.

There was a few people clapping, and then it erupted into a full on applause and cheering. They were yelling in the different language but I guessed it was obviously good yelling. I smiled at them all. A young girl stepped up and spoke to me, which I couldn't understand. I looked at Aaya questioningly.

"They want to know what to call you" , she said, grinning.

"Remy. You can all call me Remy" , I said, a little embarrassed by all the applause which was still going on.

She lifted her head to look at the others. "Remy, Kina" , she said clearly, addressing the child.

Kina? Weird name.

"Um…I was wondering, if I could, er, speak to your Shaman?" , I asked awkwardly. "I just need to clear a few things…if that's okay."

"It's okay, Aaya" , Peter said. "I'll take her."

Aaya nodded and returned to the crowd.

"Thanks!" , I shouted after her.

"C'mon" , Peter said, tugging at my arm. "Let's go see Rahbya."

"Who-ha?"

"The Shaman."

"Oh. Right. Lead the way then."

He lifted back into the air and I was admittedly astounded all over again. He glided above the ground a few inches.

"Hey" , I said, practically skipping.. "You know I can't fly? It's hard to keep up with you while you're pretending to be a fairy."

Peter spluttered with laughter. "No" , he said, trying to control his breathing. "I look nothing like a fairy. They're about ten times smaller and much more powerful than any human being ever and –"

"Wait" , I said, confused. "What?"

"The fairies" , Peter said, frowning. "They're white as well."

"Okay" , I said slowly, hopping over a heap of bows and arrows sprawled around the ground. "So what you're saying, is that there are fairies. Here."

"Yeah."

"To recover me from shock from just being here in the first place, don't tell me anything for the next few days. Or I swear to God I'll faint."

Peter began to say something but was interrupted by a loud BEEP.

I jumped and Peter immediately drew his knife out, eyes scanning the camp. Then I sighed in relief and pulled my forgotten phone out of my pocket.

"It's okay" , I said, waving it at Peter. I pressed the middle button and laughed. "Oops. My alarm went off."

He landed in front of me and stared at the phone cautiously.

I frowned at him. "What?"

He swallowed. "What is that – that thing?"

I bit my lip to keep back the laughter. "Are you afraid of it?"

"No!" , he said fiercely.

"Whatever. Look, it's called a phone. Y'know, like telephones?"

His face suddenly lightened. "Oh…I heard of them once on a trip back to London, a while after we left…"

"Yeah, well, this is a more modern version. Easy to carry around, and you can contact people on it."

"How?"

"By sending them a text or ringing them."

"And how'd you do that?"

"Well, it's pretty simple. You just get another persons phone number –"

"Does everyone have a phone number?"

"If they have a phone, yes. Anyways, you get another persons number, and you can send them a message –"

"How?"

"If you didn't keep interrupting me, you would find out much quicker."

He shrugged. "Never mind. We can talk about it later. Right now we have to go see Rahbya."

He set off again in the air, me close behind.

"We?" , I said loudly above the sound of the water in the stream beside us.

He turned his head. "Yeah."

"But why not just me?"

"I'm your escort. Of course I have to go."

I sighed and kept up with him until we reached a round brown tent, decorated with more of those symbols and signs. I hurried towards the flap.

"Um, hello?"

"Who is it?" , a sharp voice asked.

"It's Peter and Remy English…um, y'know…-" I winced. "- 'Heroine of Neverland'?"

The flap suddenly ripped open.

"Come in, children!"

I entered cautiously, Hansel and Gretel suddenly appearing to mind. There was a bright glow from a small fire lit it up, letting me see a small bed tucked away and many different objects beside it including stones. Peter had already settled on the right side of the fire which was situated in the middle of the tent, and looked at me expectantly. I felt anxious as I sat cross-legged across the fire from him.

"Ah yes…you are the one" , a female voice said softly. She stepped out from the shadows of the tent and stared at me for a few moments, before finally settling herself at the head of the fire.

"Please" , I said. "Why is it that I have to save Neverland? Why me?"

Raybha looked hesitant. "I'm not sure –"

"I have a right to know why I've been chosen" , I said indignantly.

I could feel Peter look at my face in possible shock, but I kept my eyes on the Shaman. She just sighed.

"Yes" , she muttered. "I suppose you do…well…oh, this is extremely hard to explain, so I will put it into easier words for you. I assume you have knowledge of James Hook?"

I nodded. "Wait" , Peter said quickly. "What's he got to do with this?"

"Quiet boy!" , she snapped at him. Then she looked back to me and I couldn't help noticing pity in her eyes.

"My dear child, it appears your middle name is Maria, am I correct?"

"Yes" , I said uncertainly. "After my great, great, great Grandmother."

She refused to meet my eyes and focused on the fire instead. The shadows of the flickering flames danced along her face.

"James Hook had a sister, Maria. Aren't I right, boy?"

Peter frowned. "Oh yeah, he told me that ages ago. But so what? The same name, big deal."

"Very big deal" , she snapped at him again. "A great deal!"

"But why?" , I barely whispered.

She finally looked at me with sorry eyes. "I regret to tell you this, but Maria was your Grandmother. You are the blood of Captain Hook, and you must defeat him, if peace shall ever return to Neverland."

I stared wordlessly at her while Peter gasped in horror.

"Me?" , I whispered. "Me, of all people, I'm the one with the screwed up pirate Uncle."

"But why does she have to defeat him?" , Peter said angrily. "She won't stand a chance against him! I could do it, no problem!"

I glared at him. "I may be a girl, Peter, but that doesn't mean I'm weak."

He shook his head. "No, what I meant was that…Hook's pretty crafty. You really wouldn't stand a chance."

And then, ignoring my glares, he turned back to Raybha. "Why does she have to do it?" , he repeated.

"Hook is cold-hearted" , she said matter-of-factly. "Remy has a brave and kind heart, which is more than enough to defeat Hook."

"Emotionally, maybe" , I butted in, and they both looked at me. "I mean, physically, I really don't know…"

"It's your destiny, and you must prepare for it" , Raybha said wisely. "Otherwise, you will not have a chance."

"She won't have a chance anyways!" , Peter said, even more angrily. "What if she's killed? Then what?"

I looked at the Shaman in fear. She shook her head. "Then we're doomed" , she said quietly.

Peter looked at me, studying my face. I was hugging my knees by that point, shaking. I had to help Neverland, I knew that much.

But would helping cost my life?


	7. Cliff Top Apologies

I stared out at the clear blue sky, twirling a piece of grass around and around in my fingers. The light breeze made the grassy cliff top dance, like every bit was choreographing a special performance, just for me. I tore my eyes away from the sky and let them rest on a ship which was on the waters. It looked old and worn. The sails were torn and many of its occupants seemed to be asleep, for there wasn't a single being on deck.  
I bit my lip as I pondered the fact of having a relative in that ship who was more than ready to kill me. A shudder went down my spine at the thought of facing James Hook, of having to defeat him. I had a whole different world counting on me to save them, their hopes on my shoulders. The words exchanged in Raybha's tent we all privately agreed stayed in the tent, because I needed to figure a plan before telling the others.  
Peter was incredibly angry when we left last night, still going on about me not having a chance in this, and that I was going to die before I even got close to Hook. We had a weeny little argument about it…and….oh, who am I kidding. We had a full-on shouting match on the very cliff top I occupied now.

"How else am I supposed to defeat him?", I threw at him.

"You're not going to! Don't you see? It's pointless even preparing for it!"

I pointed my finger at him. "When you asked for my help, what was going through your mind? How'd you think I was going to help Neverland?"

"We didn't know it had anything to do with Hook at that time!" , he said angrily.

"Well how did you think I was going to save Neverland anyways?"

"I don't know!"

"Well I guess you should have thought of that BEFORE you came looking for me!"

He stalked off then. Well. He actually flew off, but you get what I mean. And I stayed on the cliff top, too anxious and angry to return to camp, for fear of Aaya or someone else asking what Raybha said.

For as long as I could remember, music always calmed me. It was always there when I needed it, sort of like when people have a stress ball to squeeze when they get angry. Any emotion could be sorted for me through music though. So I left my phone play music all night. Ed Sheeran, Adele, Taylor Swift and a bit of Paramore. Mostly Ed Sheeran though, because most of his songs kind of pull at your heartstrings, and that's what I needed. I had no network, surprise surprise. Well, I wasn't exactly expecting Meteor to have power lines here, but I couldn't help being a bit hopeful.

A person came onto the deck of the ship. I leaned in, squinting my eyes for a closer look. Maybe I would know Hook if I saw him. Maybe we even had some resemblance. God, that would be horrifying.  
I kept my eyes on the person, watching their every move. Of course, I was disappointed yet again. It seemed to be just another one of the crew, because they sat down on the deck and seemed to loose balance, and his head gave a small thwack as it encountered the ground. Before long, the pirate turned around. I looked hopefully, but he stayed where he was. Drunk.

"Hey."

I gave a small start and looked. Curly was a few centimetres behind me, looking the tiniest bit ashamed. He surprised me even more by eventually coming forward and plopping down on the soft grass beside me.

"Hi" , I said.

"I, um, just wanted to say sorry…y'know, for yesterday?"

I was completely shocked. It took me a minute to register the words and realize my mouth was hanging open.

"Oh" , was all I could say. "Well, thanks. I'm sorry too."

He looked at me, confused. "What for?"

I grinned awkwardly. "For being so hard to kill a first time."

He gave a small laugh. "Ah, I'll get over it."

I smiled and looked out to the ship again, keeping a close watch.

"And I wanted to say…well…it's not really any of my business…but…"

I looked at Curly, interested.

"Well" , he said shiftily. "I heard you and Peter last night."

I turned back to the ship, inhaling deeply. "Oh" , I gave a harsh laugh. "That. Well…did you hear much?"

"Everything" , he admitted. "I wasn't eavesdropping though. I swear!"

"It's okay" , I said, sighing. "It was probably hard not to hear us anyways. Well, if you did hear everything, you'll know that I have to…"

"Defeat Hook. Yeah."

"Why doesn't Peter believe I can do it?" , I asked.

Curly looked out towards the sea. "It's hard to explain."

"Surprise me" , I said bitterly.

He gave a small smile. "Ever since we defeated Hook, a long time ago, Peter has always been a little tetchy if anyone ever mentioned him. I think he secretly hopes Hook might change."

"Do you think he will?"

Curly shook his head. "No. It's permanent. The man's demented."

"That I can believe."

"Yeah."

"But…it still doesn't really answer my question."

Curly shrugged. "Peter thinks it's his fault Hook went bad, seeing as he blames himself for getting us here in the first place."

I frowned. "But he said Hook fell with the Orb."

"Hook did. Peter still blames himself for getting us to break into the shop when he was lying."

"So what has that got to do with my question?"

"Peter blames himself for a lot of things, see. So, if you get killed, he'll blame himself. He thinks it'll be his fault…and I don't suppose he wants you to die."

I snorted. "I wouldn't count on that. He barely even knows me, I doubt he really cares whether I live or die. I know he's just worried about Neverland, although he has a right to. End of story."

Curly raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure that's not true" , he said softly.

I raised my eyebrows back at him. "Want a bet?"

He groaned. "Yes. If I win, you stop making that ridiculous song sound."

I winced. "Aww, come on. You've got to love a bit of Paramore once in a while. It's great music!"

"I'm not sure deafening monkeys is great music."

"Oh! That really hurt, deep down" , I said sarcastically.

He laughed and I joined in. For a moment, it was perfect. I was sitting on a cliff top in a magical world, joking with a person I once thought an enemy. But the laughter soon died down, and Curly left, looking a bit guilty. He just said "Seeya" and shuffled away.  
I picked up my Blackberry and switched the music off, preserving as much battery as possible before it died and became useless. I heard a small thud and whipped around to face Peter. I gasped and stood there like an idiot for a moment, before finally coming to terms with reality. I began to march off. I wasn't in the mood for another fight.

"Wait."

I turned around. "What?" My voice was hardened.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Ask away" , I said icily. "But be quick, if you don't mind. I've got to work out how to magically defeat Hook without going anywhere near him."

He ignored my sarcasm. "D'you really reckon I wouldn't care if you were killed?"

I glared at him. "You were listening!" Then I realized. "That's why Curly left! You were there and he must've seen you!"

He wouldn't meet my eyes. "Yeah" , he said to the ground sheepishly. "Sorry."

" 'Sorry' does not even begin to COVER what you've been at!"

"I know" , he said to the ground again. Then he looked up.

"Do you think I wouldn't care though? D'you?"

"As a matter of fact, Peter, yes, I do."

"Really?" , he said, looking sad.

"Really" , I repeated firmly. "Thoroughly and clearly. Are you done now?"

"Yes."

"Brilliant."

I turned on my heel and marched off. I half expected for him to call me again, but he didn't. And I hated to admit it, but I was much too proud to turn back round and tell him I didn't mean it.  
Of course I didn't. I only said those words to make them hurt, and it looks like it did the trick.

Congratulations, Remy, I told myself angrily. You've been there two days and already you're proving to be a bitch. Awesome.

I was continually giving myself grief until my phone beeped. I frowned as I realised it was my text message tone. I still received texts in Neverland! I took it out, curious.

Where are you? Did you go for a walk this morning? Love, Mammy xx

I gasped and my eyes brimmed with tears. I switched the phone off and put it back in my pocket. Soon I was running as fast as I could towards some trees, tears racing down my cheeks. I'd completely forgotten about Mam and Joseph, and that they'd notice I was missing.

I went as deep into the trees as my legs allowed me, jumping over logs and shrubs. I was gasping for breath, but I didn't care. It reminded me of that horrible and unforgettable day when I was trying to track down Joseph from his screams. As soon as I checked nobody was around, I dropped to the ground, tears everywhere, blurring up my eyes. I curled up into a ball, my breathing completely beyond my control. I didn't even try. I was a little surprised at how much I was an emotional wreck on two legs. This thought went through my mind, unnoticed. I took out my phone and glared at it blindly, the image blurred.

"It's your fault!" , I screeched. I flung it with all my power against the tree across from me, and it impacted with a large CLANG before falling to the ground. I was hoping to break the screen, but it impacted on its back.

I wailed even louder, giving up completely on being discreet. I hugged my knees on the ground, the image of my Mam whirling around in my mind.

She was crying with about the same amount of control I had. I could make out her words, and even though I knew it was my head playing tricks on me, it shattered my heart.

"All my daughters are gone" , she whispered. "And they will never come back."


	8. Crow's Nest Conversation

"Oh my goodness! Remy! Are you okay?"

I groaned, unsure of where exactly I was.

"Remy!" The voice was directly above me now. "Tootles! Over here!"

"Remy!" I heard a voice in the distance. Soon there were running steps crunching the leaves on the ground before finally settling beside me.

"Oh God…Remy, can you hear me?"

I felt a warm hand on my forehead, fingers gently smoothing my hair.

"She's freezing."

"Peter'll have a FIT."

"Tell him to bog off then" , I moaned. My eyelids gave in and they fluttered open. Aaya was leaning over me, her hand on my forehead. Tootles was across from her, also leaning over me.

"Oh! Phew! You alright Remy?" , Tootles said. "You gave us a fright!"

"Where am I?"

"In the woods, Remy" , Aaya said gently. "Can you remember what happened?"

I frowned as blurred images came into mind…Peter, my phone, the text, the crying…I pieced it all together to make sense.

I nodded at her. "I…er…didn't feel well, so I just lay down. Must've fallen asleep."

I could tell that Aaya didn't buy my weak story, but Tootles seemed at ease.

"Silly" , he said, shaking his head. "Everybody's been going mental. The rest of us have been looking for you for hours."

"Didn't cross your mind I'd be here then?"

"Not exactly. You're pretty deep in the woods, we did do a check, but we just didn't go in far enough. Peter was well and truly convinced that Hook was holding you captive or something."

I rolled my eyes. "Course he did."

"He went to check and everything."

I sat up and they darted back to avoid a head butting. I shrugged back a bit so I could face them both.

"Peter went to Hook's ship to see if he had me?" , I asked incredulously.

Aaya nodded gravely. "Yes. But I'm afraid it was a terrible mistake."

"Why?"

Tootles sighed. "Hook knows you're here now. He doesn't know why, but with the knowledge that you're of importance to Peter will most certainly make him want to have a chat with you anyways."

My insides fired up with bitter hatrid. Peter had just gone up and asked Hook if he had me? The twit!

"Well" , I said coolly. "Time to have a small chat with Hook."

I stood up and brushed myself down, ignoring the gaping looks I was receiving from Aaya and Tootles.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I looked at them. "I really appreciate all that you've done for me, but it's time to face Hook. What's the point in waiting? We'll have to sooner or later."

"But you don't have to!" , Aaya exclaimed. "You've got nothing to do with Hook! He just thinks that you might be useful for playing Peter, and now you're walking straight into his grasp!"

I realized in dismay that nobody but Peter, Raybha and me knew of what I really had to do with Hook. What he most definitely intended to do once he found out who I am and what I'm hopefully capable of doing to him.

I looked pleadingly at them. "Just let me try? Please?"

They looked at each other. Aaya sighed and Tootles grunted.

I smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"Peter will KILL us" , Tootles said.

"But you're still doing it, buddy."

I turned away from them and retraced my steps until I reached the village. I was just passing the stream when I heard my name.

"REMY!" , Curly yelled gleefully. He ran towards me, a wide grin stretched across his face.

"Shush, Curly!" , I pleaded.

He didn't hear me and continued running. He yanked me into a huge hug.

"Curly" , I gasped in shock. "Can't – breathe –"

He laughed and set me back on the ground.

"Where've you been then?" , he asked ecstatically. "You've been gone ages!"

"I –"

"C'mon, let's get Peter, now that I've got proof that you haven't been murdered by Hook!"

He grabbed my hand and tore off with me towards the cliff top before I could object.

"Peter!" , he yelled wildly as we reached the cliff top. "Yoo hoo!"

I could make out a brown blob sitting on the cliff top. It jumped up and faced us.

"Look at who's safe and sound, like I SAID!"

Curly was dragging me towards the brown blob whom I obviously recognised as Peter. I could see his facial features as we came closer, finally stopping before him. He stared at me in plain shock, mouth wide open. I stared straight back at him, hoping my eyes would show him the hurt I endured. I wanted him to suffer. I could vaguely hear Curly going on and on enthusiastically in the background, jumping around and yelling in victory.

"So.." , Peter said after what seemed like forever. "You're back."

"Yup" , I said, without much effort at enthusiasm. "I'm back."

Curly immediately stopped jumping around. "Peter's been super-worried 'bout you, eh Peter?" , he said grinning. "Dead worried. Looked EVERYWHERE we've ever been to. Even took a sneaky peek at Hook's ship, didn't ya?"

Peter opened his mouth to speak and I interrupted before the first word could come out.

"Oh, I heard that alright. Told him all about me, didn't ya?"

Curly stopped teasing and looked a little tense. Peter wouldn't meet my eyes.

"So what?", Curly said, a little too at ease. "Hook can live with it."

I nodded. "Mm. In fact, I'm afraid I have a little meeting with him to attend to. So, how do I get down to that ship?"

"You're not going to that ship" , Peter said suddenly.

I glared at him. "Guess I'll have to jump off of the cliff then, won't I? Don't worry, I know how to swim."

Curly looked fearful. "Not a good idea Remy. The impact alone will kill you. How come you need to talk to Hook anyways?"

"Business I need to attend to", I said.

"What sort of business?"

"Important business."

"About what?"

"Go on then Peter, why don't you tell him? Spare us all the questions" , I said to Peter. He glared at me and looked at Curly.

"Thing is, mate, um…Remy has got something to do with Hook."

Curly frowned. "How'd you mean? What does he want?"

Peter looked hesitant. I sighed.

"I'll explain the basics. It turns out Hook's my ancestor and I've got to get rid of him if this place ever comes back to normal. Wala."

Curly looked gobsmacked and his eyes swivelled to Peter and me, back and forth.

"You – Hook – related?" , he barely managed.

I nodded. "Yup. Pretty much."

"Curly, you remember Hook had a sister, Maria?" , Peter said calmly.

He nodded.

"Well, Maria is Remy's great great great Grandmother."

"But how do you know?"

"Raybha", I said. "And my name, it's hardly a coincidence she'd get it wrong. Grandmother : Maria. Hook's sister : Maria. Raybha saying I'm related to him. My name, Remy Maria Kingsley."

"She still could've gotten it wrong" , Peter muttered.

"Didn't I ask you that?" , I shot at him. "Back home? And what did you say? Oh yeah, something like Shaman's are accurate? Gimme a break."

"And what if it doesn't work?" ,Curly stuttered. "What if -?"

"I die?",I finished for him. "Well if I'm killed, you guys are all screwed. So I've got to make it my priority, don't I? But it's not helping when I'm being fought all the way by Peter."

Curly looked nervously at Peter. "Mate, maybe you should let her give it a go. I mean, she's proved to be good at talking her way out of things, and….um….she's smart. What could be better?"

"I'm strong too" , I pointed out. "Lads back home underestimated my strength. Made fun of me. They regretted it later."

Curly swallowed. "Yeah."

Peter turned towards the edge of the cliff. "Curly, make sure everybody knows Remy's back. Tell them we've gone on important business, and that we'll be back soon."

I raised my eyebrows. "We?" , I said as Curly hurried away.

"I'm not dumb enough to let you go on your own. You'll be shot, possibly tortured if they catch you."

"You really have lot of faith in me, don't ya?"

He said nothing.

"Should know how to trust a girl" , I continued.

"I've never had to until now" , he snapped.

"Well then! You must think us girlies are as weak as ragdolls. But lemme tell you something. The world has changed since you've been away, Pete. There's girl boxers, wrestlers, weight lifters, sports champions….and so on."

"Really?" , he asked incredulously.

I made my way and stood beside him. "Really."

"Wow."

"Yup. Anyways, enough about that. How're we getting down there?"

"Flying."

"Brilliant idea! Except I don't exactly have the magical properties you have. So what am I going to do?"

He retrieved a small leather pouch from his jacket pocket. "Tip this over your head. The faeries have kindly given some of the Mineral Dust to you, seeing as they know of the situation we are in."

"Mineral Dust?"

"The stuff to make you fly."

"Oh…I knew that."

I loosened the rope on the pouch and pulled it open. There was a big handful of stuff at the bottom of it, all silvery and shiny.

"It's okay. It's not going to hurt. Just tip it over, and you won't feel a thing."

I tipped it over my head doubtfully, shaking it a bit. He wasn't lying, I didn't feel a thing. But I heard something.

In my ears, loud thundering voices were singing. There was at least two or three of them, all saying stuff I couldn't understand. I frowned, trying to listen.

"You're done."

I jumped. "Oh. Yeah." I tossed the pouch back to him, and he shoved it back into his pocket.

I examined my head, tapping my hand along it. Then cautiously I drew it back to look at it, and was bewildered.

The silver stuff from the pouch was glittering on my hand.

"This is so cool" , I whispered.

Peter smiled. "Yeah."

"But…who was singing? The voices?"

He shrugged. "Faeries are around somewhere. They had to sing this song in order for you to have received the dust the right way."

"And what happens if it goes the wrong way?"

"You blow up."

"Awesome."

"So…are we going?"

I winced at the thought of flying around in the sky. I wasn't what you'd call 'a brilliant fan of heights' . "Yeah" , I muttered. "Can't wait."

"Okay. The only things you need to know are, number one. Try not to freak out, otherwise you'll be falling to an early death. Number two. You have to be the wind. Don't fight against it. Number three. Be extremely careful and quiet. It's going to be hard being secretive when there's screaming."

"Got it."

"Great. Remember, be calm and follow me. Here." He took my hand. "I guess I'll guide you down, seeing as you're a first timer and everything. We'll have time to practice after."

I felt insulted at the thought of being guided. Although it made me feel like a toddler, I wasn't keen on having to do it by myself.

"Fine" , I grunted. "Time to go meet great malicious, twisted and mad in the head Uncle Hook."

He laughed and pulled me towards the very edge of the cliff. I hesitated but allowed it.

"Keeping calm is the key" , Peter said.

"So you keep saying."

"Ready?"

"Yep" , I lied. "Totally and truly."

And without another word, Peter drifted effortlessly into the sky. I snapped my eyes shut and focused on breathing properly. I felt myself levitating and squinted, keeping my eyes shut even tighter.

"Remy."

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna need my hand after this."

I realized I was gripping his hand for dear life.

"Oops" , I said blindly. "Sorry."

"It's okay. But I think you should open your eyes. It makes it kind of easier."

"Yeah? You know, I think I'm just fine being blind."

"Please? It's a bit hard holding you and me up."

I bit my lip. "Fine" , I heard myself say. "Fine."

I opened my eyes slowly, squirming as I did so. I saw a bit of blue which I presumed was the sky, not allowing myself to open my eyes wider enough than a small gap. I saw a bit of brown, which I knew in an instant was Peter's hair.

"Oh God.." , I whispered.

I forced myself to open my eyes wide. I stared blankly into space for two seconds, making sure they didn't close. Peter laughed.

"Relax" , he said.

"Easy for you to say. Would you believe I've actually never flown before?"

"Oh!" , Peter said in fake surprise. "Really?"

I turned my head to face him and poked my tongue out at him. He looked thoughtful.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" , he asked me.

I sighed. "Well, I really don't know….oh, fine, I suppose. But you knew that already."

He grinned. "Yeah."

I nodded. "Well, how long are we just gonna hang around here then? Come on, let's get a move on."

"Okay. Just lean forward, and maybe sticking your arms out would help. And just –"

"Keep calm" , I finished for him. "I know. Superman mode it is."

He didn't hear me. "I'm gonna need my hand, unless you prefer…?" He sort of gestured awkwardly towards our linked hands.

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine."

I took my hand out of his carefully.

"Let's go."

He swooped down to the ship like a pro. I gazed at him. How on earth was I meant to do that? He was just under the side of the ship facing me, beckoning. I swallowed.

"Here goes nothing, Remy" , I whispered to myself.

I stuck out my arms first, like Superman. I leaned forward slightly, then more and more. Soon I was moving slowly down, focusing my eyes on Peter and nothing else.

I could not look down.

I was edging bit by bit until I finally came within three metre's length of Peter.

"Brilliant!" , he whispered. "You made it!"

"Half an hour later" , I whispered back to him. "But yeah, I guess I didn't die. That's something."

He chuckled. "Come on then."

I slowly drifted towards Peter until finally I was right beside him.

"There's nobody on deck" , I told him. "I didn't see anyone."

He nodded. "Best to call Hook out then. Wait here. You'll know when to come out."

He left me within a second and I looked up. He was standing on the sill of the crow's nest of the ship, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Captain James Hook!" , he said in a goofy voice. "Come out!"

I bit my hand to stop myself laughing.

"James Hook!" , he said again. "Scared of me?"

I was just about to bite my hand again when I heard a door open. My eyes widened in surprise and I made myself completely soundless, breathing lightly through my nose. I wanted to listen.

"Peter" , a sly voice said. I shivered. The voice was creepy.

"Hook" , Peter said goofily. "Dreaming 'bout poor old Bonnie, are we?"

"Don't chance it, Pan", Hook said menacingly. "Sooner or later I'll have your dear girlfriend in my trap."

He was NOT talking about me.

Peter said nothing. I guessed this was my cue.

"Well" , I called out. "I wouldn't exactly call me his girlfriend, Hook."

I gently raised up to face the shocked face of Captain Hook.

I gasped and lost focus. He looked so like me.

The very same browny-grey eyes, the same mouth. The same hair colour.

Seriously?! I inherited all this, from him, not my actual Grandmother?

Peter gaped at us. He realized the similarities too.

"Well – I – er" , Hook said, struggling for words.

"Hello!" , I said sweetly. "Lovely to see you. What were you saying about a trap? All for me? You shouldn't have!"

Peter sniggered. I joined him on the crow's nest, laughing at the gobsmacked Hook.

"You" , he finally said. "Maria…"

"Oh! That's the best part!", I said happily. "Maria was my dear Grandmother! Well…make that Great Great Great Grandmother, but even so!"

He took this in, and then his unpleasant scowl returned to his lined face. He reminded me of a lion, because his hair was wild and he just seemed…dangerous.

He looked at Peter. "Well done, Pan" , he said sneering. "You brought me a relative. So what? I can whip her out of sight without your noticing."

I pretended to be puzzled. "Why, Hook? What have I ever done to you?"

He sneered at me then. "You were brought here."

"Oh, I get it. Believe me, I very much despise being in your company, don't worry" , I said, smiling.

He yelled in frustration.

"Well" , I said. "You're just a big bag of sunshine, aren't you?"

"I will kill you" , he spat.

"Oh!" , I clapped my hand to my forehead. "I almost forgot! You can't do that!"

"And why not?" , he roared.

I jumped but quickly settled again. "I'm afraid I'll have to kill you, Hook. Terribly sorry about that."

Peter looked serious. "Count your days, Hook. You don't have much left."

Hook smiled a crooked crazy smile. "Is that so?"

"Yes" , I said firmly, losing the happy tone. "Make the most of your calendar."

"You wait" , Hook said to me. "Your days are numbered, not mine. I will find you. Then you won't have long left."

"Not gonna happen."

"We'll see."

I glared at him. "You must be feeling pretty lucky today."

He held his arms out. "My child, I'm lucky everyday. You will lose."

"You wish" , Peter said suddenly. "Since when has anything ever actually worked out for you? Poor Bonnie, such a shame…"

"SHUT UP!" , Hook screamed.

"Who's Bonnie?"

Peter sighed and looked at me. "His 'dear' girlfriend. What a shame she blew up…"

I registered this. "She had the Mineral Dust."

He nodded.

"Oh" , I said, turning my head to face an angry and insane Hook. "Allow me to introduce myself."

I drifted forward into the air and curtseyed without much effort.

"Remy Maria Kingsley. Most unpleasant to meet you."

Hook stared at me through gritted teeth. "James Hook."

"I already knew that, unfortunately. Well, this has been quite an extraordinary meeting, but I'm afraid Peter and I must be getting off now. See you when I kill you!"

Peter cracked up laughing and followed me as we flew away from the ship.

"I WILL DESTROY YOU!" , Hook yelled.

"You forgot to take your angry pills today!" , I shouted back at him.

"That was brilliant!" , Peter yelled.

I shrugged. "Nothing to be afraid of. Piece of cake."

He nudged my shoulder.

"What?"

"Don't be reckless" , he said quickly. "Try not to misjudge the power Hook has to terminate you. Just be on your guard when you're alone."

I slowed. "Where did all this come from?"

"You just need to know. No harm in telling you."

I thought.

"Okay" , I said as we neared the cliff's edge. "There's two conditions."

"What would they be?"

"Well….I'd like to spend more time with you."

He raised his eyebrows at me.

"No!" , I quickly said, feeling my cheeks flush red. "Meaning I need to talk to you about stuff. We could make a plan to catch out Hook, right?"

He looked thoughtful. "Yeah" , he said. "Good idea."

We lowered down onto the cliff's soft grass.

"Great" ,I said. "So it's a deal."

He nodded but then frowned. "What was condition two?"

"Condition two? Oh. Well, you have to promise me that you'll help me."

"Help you with what?"

I groaned. "Help me get through having to defeat an evil pirate? And staying in an Indian camp? And…the fairy thing. It still freaks me out. Oh. And the flying. I need lessons."

He laughed. "Okay, I promise."

He opened his mouth to say something else but it was silenced by a load of yells.

"THEY'VE RETURNED!" , Tootles yelled running towards us with Curly on his tail.

"Yay! My personal stalkers!" , I said, grinning. "I'm telling you, nobody's been so happy to see me in my entire life."

Peter smiled a soft smile. "Don't think that's true."

Confusion overpowered my mind. "What?"

"Oh…" , he muttered. "The Indians. They were delighted to see you, right?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah" , I mumbled.

Peter raced forward to meet up with Tootles and Curly, avoiding the rest of the conversation. I grumpily followed him.

This boy was so confusing. On a completely different level.


	9. Staying Strong

Earlier on today was easily the most frustrating day of my entire life, and it was all to do with one little word.

Flying.

"C'mon" , Peter had said. "You told me you wanted lessons, now's the time."

I groaned, immediately starting to regret my 'conditions' .

"No backing out" , he told me.

"But this is so embarrassing" , I moaned. We were standing on the cliff edge yet again. This time we had an audience of Tootles, Curly and a few other boys that I presumed were part of the 'crew' . They seemed nice, although they were sniggering every time I had my back turned. So now I was deaf as well as ridiculous.

"Why do we have to do it now?" I pestered.

"We only have a while to catch out Hook, he'll have started planning by now."

"So?"

"If he catches you, you need a quick escape route. Flying is the key."

I sighed in defeat. I hated to admit it, but he did have a point. And I can't run for ten seconds without getting a stitch anyways.

"Fine. Okay. So, how do you do this?"

He demonstrated quickly. "Just do this…and then this…oh and don't forget to stick your arms out…"

I nodded here and there and pretended I was listening, but really my mind was a million miles away. I had left my Blackberry in the forest, positive it was broken. And if it wasn't, I'd wait till some Indian trampled on it. Ma was the centre focus of my mind. I felt so bad. I'd left her in her most vulnerable state…sometimes even Joseph couldn't get her back to normal. That was mainly my job, because she listened to me. What would she do now?  
I bit hard on my thumbnail, completely unconcerned about what Peter was telling me. It felt like I was in Irish class with Miss Dempsey. I never listened to her, just smiled and nodded whenever she looked for a response.

Peter stopped and I looked up. He was looking at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Remy."

"Yup, right here."

"I've been calling you for the last minute."

I frowned. "Oh…I was just thinking about swooping tactics. How to go in and out of trees and –"

I stopped. He looked at me, biting back a laugh. He didn't believe a word.

"Anyways…as I was saying…"

"Remy. Hello?"

A hand was waving in front of my face. I jumped and looked up, recognizing it to be Aaya. I was sitting on one of the logs around the fire in the Indian village. I wondered how long I was there for.

"Hi."

"Are you okay?"

I smiled weakly. "Never better."

She didn't buy it. "Oh. You've just been…kind of staring into the fire a lot…you might hurt your eyes."

"Oh. I didn't notice."

She gave a small laugh. "I'm going to bed, you coming?"

We shared a tent, Aaya and me. Two single beds and a small wooden bench at the base of the tent, which we just dumped our clothes onto.

"Nah. I'll be there later."

She looked suspicious but didn't press the matter any further. "Okay. Goodnight."

"Night" , I called after her. She retreated into the tent, yawning. I turned back to the fire, balling my hands into fists and resting my chin on them. For the first time I truly wondered whether I would ever get home. This thought jumped and down in my mind, pressuring it for an answer. I really didn't know.  
One by one the Indians started to wander away from the group. I refused to move, hoping nobody would notice me. I just wanted to curl up into a corner and stay there. I was tired of being relied on. The Indians didn't seem worried at all now that I was there, and that worried ME. What if they thought I was going to win this? What if they were well and truly convinced? I moaned and covered my face with my hands.

Someone sniffled. And again. And again.

I looked up from my hands curiously. An Indian girl, a little younger than me, was curled up on a hammock, crying. Her shoulders were shaking, that was all the evidence I needed.

"Hey" , I said softly. "Are you okay?"

The girl stopped. "Yes" , she gulped. "Fine."

"Liar. Come over here."

The girl hesitantly rolled round in her hammock. She slid off of it and walked towards me slowly. I squinted at her, it was getting darker and darker by the second. Soon the flickering flames began to dance on her face until her face was bright orange. I immediately recognised her as Kina.  
She wiped her eyes with her wrist.

I held my arms out. "Come here."

At first she just looked at me, but gave in. She ran to my arms and collapsed into them. Her head was resting on my shoulder, and she was surprisingly light.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She sniffled again. "My – my brother. Marus. He's missing, he didn't return from hunting today. The others thought he had already come back."

She shoved her head into my neck and began sobbing hysterically. I felt very awkward, trying to calm her.

"It's okay!" , I protested. "Calm down Kina! I'm sure Marus is around here somewhere…he'll be back!"

I don't think she even heard me. But slowly the tears subsided, and she was just quietly sniffling on my lap in the dark, nothing but the fire's flames giving us sight.

"What if the pirates took him?" , she whispered suddenly. "What if-"

"No", I interrupted. "You can't think like that. You have to stay positive for Marus, yeah? Can you do that? If not for him…for me?"

She processed this, and nodded.

"Good" , I said, jiggling her. "Now come on. We need to cheer you up. What do you like doing?"

She thought, staring into the fire. "Dance" , she responded. "But it is too late to do it now. It is dark."

I shook my head. "You can dance WHENEVER you want. There's no rules as to when you can and can't do it. So. Let's…dance."

Inside I was telling myself that I really shouldn't dance. Because when I dance I look like a retarded duck. That's why.

Kina got off my lap and stood in front of the bonfire, eyeing me awkwardly. I smiled at her – well, I hope it looked like a smile – and beckoned her.

"You go first."

She shook her head. "I'll do it when you do it."

I sighed. "Okay. But you can't laugh. Deal?"

"Why would I laugh?"

I sighed again. "I can't dance to save my life, but I'm doing it for you, okay?"

She nodded, a smile already playing around the corners of her mouth.

I groaned. "Well, here goes nothing."

I thought of a song, Remember When. I began to jump around the fire to the beat, keeping my eyes closed for fear of meeting Kina's. I could already hear her giggling. I'm sure I looked exactly like one of the mad drunks back home that I used to watch out my window. They danced and sang, and I found it entertaining. Now I just felt embarrassed.  
I peeked out of the corner of my eye and froze. Many Indians were watching me intently, suggesting the thought of me probably looking more stupid than I first initially thought. I looked at Kina and she smiled. She danced forward and took my hand, pulling me around and around the bonfire in a dance. Other Indians happily came forward and took my free hand and Kina's. Soon everybody had joined, and there was laughing and talking echoing in the cold air of the night. I caught sight of Aaya in the ring. It seemed we had awoken the entire camp. The Indian Chief, whom I had seen earlier in the day, was sitting in his fancy wooden chair smiling at the party. Maybe there hadn't been this much happiness in the camp for a long time.  
After a while I sat out, breathless and unable to feel my legs. I watched the dancing for a long time. Other Indians had also broken away to perform music with their wooden instruments. I clapped along, hoping I looked happy and at ease. Really my head was spinning around and around with the thoughts of having to defeat Hook. I sighed.

A hand slapped onto my shoulder. "Boo." I jumped and my head turned sharply to look behind me. Peter was standing there, grinning.

I let out a whoosh of breath. "You scared me."

"Yeah?" He eyed the dancing circle. "You had a party without me! How could you?" , he asked in mock horror.

I laughed. "It's still on, I'm just sitting out. Dancing is extremely hard work."

He smiled. I peered at him, waiting for him to say something. He gazed at the Indians, seeming astounded. I shrugged to myself and turned back to watch them. Instantly I felt his eyes on me, they bored into my skull. I felt uncomfortable. This was insanely awkward.

"Anything else?" , I asked, turning round again. He ripped his eyes away from me and looked at the Indians again, pretending.

"Um, yeah, actually. I wondered if you would come with me."

"Come where?" , I asked suspiciously.

"It's a surprise."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He held up his hands. "Trust me."

My eyes flickered back to the dancing group. I'm sure Kina nor Aaya would notice I was gone, if it was only for a little while….

"Okay" , I said simply. I stood up and noticed he held a rag in his hand. I groaned.

"Are you going to blindfold me again?"

"It's meant to be a surprise, remember?"

"Well…yeah, I suppose" , I muttered.

I stepped forward and sighed. "Come on then. Let's get this over with."

He gently wrapped the rag around my eyes and pulled it tight.

"You're gonna send the pulse to my cheek if you pull it any tighter."

"Sorry." He took hold of my hand briefly and pulled me along. Soon the sounds of singing and dancing Indians was distant, barely heard. The air was filled with Peter regularly telling me "Step over this" or "Watch your head" .

"How much longer?" , I whined.

"Not much now. Oh, watch that branch." I ducked and continued walking blindly. I was used to it.

"So can you give me a clue about my surprise?"

"Nope. Isn't the point of surprises to keep it a surprise?"

"Nobody follows those points anymore."

"I do."

I shook my head. "Eejit."

"Remy."

"Yesy?"

"No. I'm calling you a Remy."

I frowned. "But I am Remy."

"Well, yes. But you're a Remy also."

I opened my mouth to argue with this, but thought better of it. "Sure. Okay. How long now?"

We stopped. "I guess we're here."

"Oh. Really?" It hadn't been that long a journey, ten or fifteen minutes.

"Yeah. Just keep your eyes closed when I take off the blindfold. I'll tell you when you can look."

"Sure." I felt something at the back of my neck and my eyes were released. I determinedly kept them closed – I was always a sucker for looking when I wasn't supposed to.

"Can I look yet?"

I felt his presence beside me. "Yeah. You can look."

I blinked quickly and set my eyes to stare.

"Woah…"

Shining stars. That's what it looked like at first. Every one of them, glinting brightly. I stared at them intently, because I knew myself they weren't really stars. They were much too close. I noticed that each had flickering movements, and that they moved precariously and daintily, like ballerinas.

Something went "Ping!" in my mind.

"They're faeries, aren't they?"

Peter nodded and I grinned at him. "But what are they all doing here?"

"They're going to put on a show for you. Sit with me."

He gestured towards a tree in the middle of the clearing. The trunk was incredibly twisty, it was hard to believe it was actually a real tree and not a sculpture. The trunk stuck straight out to the side, creating a perfect chair for approximately four people to sit on.  
I went forward and jumped onto it, Peter copying. He nodded at the faeries and I could hear them buzzing.

"Hey Remy!"

"Hi!"

"Heard so much about you!"

"Thanks for helping us!"

I laughed. Peter looked at me, confused. "They're all talking to me in the one go. Can't you hear them?"

"No. They don't talk English. They're talking to you in your mind."

"Oh. That's kinda freaky."

He shrugged. "You'll get used to it."

I was immediately concerned as to what he meant by that particularly. He didn't think I was staying a long time, right? I looked at him warily. He seemed content, staring at one glowing fairy. I presumed he was talking to her. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to make myself feel more comfortable. Peter mistook my actions.

"Are you cold?"

"Oh, just a little" , I lied. "I'll be fine. So, what now?"

He just smiled and turned back to the faeries. Soon they were going in every direction. They looked like they were taking places, as each of them were fairly picky about where they were hovering in the air.

"Will this….tire them or something?" , I asked. "Or waste their magic flying power thingies?"

Peter laughed and shook his head. "Nope. They'll be fine."

"One..Two..Three."

They started. Each paired up with another for a waltz, making seem a floating ball. They all sang and I listened intently. It was so beautiful…I was happy. I peeked at Peter out of the corner of my eye. He was watching me carefully for a reaction, and I quickly forced my eyes back to the faeries. I wasn't good at making eye contact with much people. The faeries danced gracefully in the air, perfection clearly taken into consideration. Two of them rose above the crowd, taller and even more beautiful than the others. Lady and Gentleman – they looked very gracious. They began an even more graceful waltz, with all sorts of twirls and twists. I sighed in content as the girl spun into his arms and he held her carefully. It was just so unbelievably romantic I felt as though I was watching a soap.  
And then it was done. Faeries fluttered off one by one, all chattering excitedly to me. I could hardly make out what they were saying.

"Thank you!" , I called after them as the last ones disappeared into the trees. There was one last buzz of 'your welcomes' and it was silent.

I finally turned to Peter. He was still gazing at me. I wondered vaguely if he had even watched the performance.

"Well?"

I smiled. "Loved it. It was awesome…thank you."

He shrugged. "No problem."

He turned back towards the moon that was now filling up the clearing with a silver light. I cleared my throat and tried to think of what to say.

"It's…um…nearly time, right?"

No, Remy! After he's put on a lovely show for you? Dammit, please say he didn't hear…please say he didn't hear…

"What?"

Too late now.

"Um…about Hook" , I said uncomfortably. "It's nearly time."

"Oh. Yes. When do you propose?" , he asked coolly.

I gulped. "Um…I was thinking…tomorrow?"

He jumped up. "Tomorrow?!" , he exploded. He turned quick as a wink to face me.

"Yes" , I said firmly. "You knew it was coming."

"We've got nothing planned! Nothing decided! We're going to be totally unprepared!"

"I'M going to be totally unprepared" , I corrected him. "There's no 'we' ."

Shock plastered his face. "WHAT?!"

"I'm doing this on my OWN!" , I said angrily. "Remember? You've got no choice! Only I can do this!"

"You won't live to see another day!"

"Good to know you have so much faith in me!"

"You. Are. Not. Going" he growled.

"On the contrary, I AM going. And you can't stop me."

"We'll see about that" , he snapped. Then he silently headed into the trees, balling his hands into fists and clutching his face.

I screamed in frustration and began pacing back and forth, yelling the worst words I could think of. I yelled and yelled until I was drained and tired out. I dropped onto the grass and began viciously pulling the grass out of the ground, letting the last of my anger seep out until I was completely drained of emotion altogether.

"Damn, damn, damn" , I muttered.

This was more dramatic than Coronation Street and Emmerdale put together. I knew Peter couldn't stop me going. I wouldn't allow it. I pushed Peter out of my mind and concentrated on my Game Plan for the next day, when I could end this once and for all.


	10. Confiding in Curly

I stumbled through the forest in the pitch black, avoiding living things at every possible moment. I was still completely livid about the fight. He seemed to think me so weak. Worried? Yeah, and my name's John Joe. I couldn't wait to get this over with, so I could go home and just forget about it. Or maybe I'd convince myself it was all a dream. I probably would.  
Even though I was trying to be at ease and confident about fighting Hook, I honestly didn't know how I was going to do it. Alright, I WAS going to be unprepared. But so what? He looked like he had SUCH a bad hangover the day before, I betted he had already forgotten about the whole thing. This made my plans stretch easier. Well, I hoped it would, seeing as I didn't HAVE any plans at that particular time.

Lights soon bloomed out of the darkness, and there was a crackling. I had reached the camp. There was no noise and no people. Looked like the party was over. Suddenly the tiredness hit me, and my legs were wobbly as I walked towards my tent I shared with Aaya.

"Hey."

I stopped and turned. Curly was sitting cross-legged on the ground just visible by the still crackling flames of the lighting bonfire, looking at me questioningly.

"Oh. Hi."

"Where've you been?"

"Oh" I swallowed. "Just out and about…getting some exercise."

"Yeah. You look tired."

"Yeah…if you don't mind, I'm just gonna go to bed. You'll see me tomorrow."

I was about to turn and Curly stood up. "Will I?"

I froze. "What?" I asked guiltily.

"I know what you're doing. You weren't gonna tell anybody then?"

"Hey! You were eavesdropping again!"

"No, Peter came back to the camp a while ago. Not too happy. I got it out of him."

"And where is he now?"

He shrugged. "Took off."

"Brilliant" , I said icily. "Now I won't have any distractions in the morning."

"You can't be serious about this?"

"Of course I am! How long more do you want me to wait? A month, perhaps? Or would you like some more time to get used to the fact that I'm NOT here for fun and games!"

Curly simply patted the ground beside him.

"I'm going to bed."

"No, you're staying here and you're going to tell me what's REALLY going on."

"Excuse me?" I wasn't a fan of being told what to do.

"You're keeping something secret."

"How would you know?"

He rolled his eyes. "I've been here for ages, Remy. You obviously haven't noticed yet that this camp has a lot of teenage Indian girls."

He had a point. I wondered if I should just let it out to him, because if I didn't, I'd soon be a nervous wreck.

I unwillingly shifted forward and sat down beside him, keeping my eyes firmly on the ground.

"Well, let it out" , Curly said expectantly. "I'm all ears."

"You won't tell anybody?" , I muttered.

"My lips are sealed."

I was nervous. I generally kept to myself sometimes, because I found it better that way. Every scary thought or dream I had, or maybe bad memories, were shoved into a big wooden chest in my head and taken to a dungeon where it was bolted and sealed. If the thought or memory was to ever return, I'd seal the chest with bolts and locks instead. And so on…but it wasn't going to work this time. Not even the strongest bolts could hold the horror.

"I…" , I began slowly. "I….had a sister. She was a teenager, a little older than Aaya. She…."

I took a deep breath.

"She started self-harming. She wasn't happy, she was depressed. Nobody in the family knew, and I found her in the kitchen a while ago. She had cut too much, and she was in hospital. And then…"

Curly took my hand. I sniffed and wiped my eyes quickly. "And then…she left the ward to go to the bathroom…and…and…they found her there."

I couldn't continue….and instead fell into a sobbing heap. The thoughts and memories of that day I'd tried so hard to block out were flowing back, filling my head with whispers and images that I could no longer control.  
Curly took hold of me firmly but gently and pulled me upright. I leaned against him, covering my face with my hands. My breathing was raspy as I tried to calm myself, but it was no use.

"She killed herself!" , I sobbed loudly. "They found her in that bathroom!"

The huge pressure on my chest was gone, the tears slowly subsided and I stayed against Curly, wincing. I'd made a fool of myself.

"Sorry" , I muttered.

He pulled me into a tight hug. I was surprised but hung on, grateful for the comfort. I never guessed in a million years that I would be pouring my heart out to Curly of all people, but then again you never know what's gonna happen in the future.

"You've got nothing to apologise for" , Curly said softly.

He was so understanding, and it wasn't even that. We'd got off to a rough start, no point in denying it. But there we were, sitting at a bonfire in the middle of the night hugging.

I cleared my throat and backed away a bit. "Thanks for listening."

He smiled. "No problem."

I laughed a little. "Does this make us best buddies now?"

"The best."

"Awesome. I need a bestie."

We both laughed. It was nice, and for a while we just sat there. No mention of Hook, or Peter, or saving Neverland, or all the other billion things that I didn't want to think about. I found my eyelids drooping and gave a brief yawn.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed now."

He nodded. I rose up from the log and walked towards the tent, giving Curly a little wave. He looked worried, and sad. He was probably wondering whether he would see me again. I planned to leave early, so there was no drama, no tears. I took one last look at him and entered the tent quietly. Aaya was rolled round in her bed, her back facing me. I studied her carefully.

"I know you're awake."

"Alright, fine. But you've got some explaining to do."

She sat up and faced me with a droopy expression. She looked beat with the tiredness.

I sat on my bed. "I wonder what explaining I have to do. Could it possibly have anything with certain conversing outside?"

"Maybe."

I sighed. "How much did you hear?"

"Peter and Curly as well as you and Curly."

"So you know."

"Unfortunately, yes. It's going to be pondering my mind for the rest of the night."

"Well maybe people should just get over it" , I muttered.

"But how can you not see the stupidity in your plans? Please, Remy! We've got to plan, figure it out, and we'll see better results!"

"I can't wait any longer! This is killing me! I've got to do it SOON, or else we'll probably never get round to it and I'll be stuck here forever!"

"What's so wrong with being here?"

I groaned. "Where to begin? I'm different! I have a family back home…people who need me! You obviously know what happened since you're so brilliant at listening to conversations!"

"You don't have to yell!"

"It doesn't seem to get through to people unless I do! NOW, if you'll EXCUSE me, I need my energy for tomorrow."

I kicked off my uggs and clambered into bed, leaving a speechless Aaya watch me.

"Ridiculous" , she muttered. I heard her climb back into bed and she blew out the candle, sending the tent into a pool of darkness. Outside the bonfire soon burned out, and Curly was long gone. If you listened hard, distant snores could be heard from other tents.  
I tossed and turned, unable to keep my eyes closed. Aaya started breathing heavily, so she was definitely asleep. I was then only angry at myself, for not trying to understand when Peter and Aaya refused to accept my mad plan. I knew it was mad. But there was nothing I could do about it. I had made up my mind and I needed to get back to my family. I hated the fact that I was frozen in time, never moving on. It made me feel robotic, inhuman. Like Bella Cullen from the Twilight series and all the other vampires.  
I had made my reckless decision. And after making a stamp on it to three people that I know and that worry about me I knew I couldn't go back on it. For one I had too much pride to take it back. My pride stopped me from doing a lot of right things, like apologising for things that I didn't feel I was responsible. Looking back at my normal life, I found myself looking at a bitch. I was temporarily shocked and mortified. I had changed so much. Neverland had brought out a new me…a better personality. But perhaps I wasn't all the way there yet.  
But there was only one way to find out if my time there had paid off. James Hook, watch out. Remy's coming, and she's going to win.

I slipped out of bed. The air was quite cold, and from the view I could see from the flaps of the tent it seemed foggy and misty. Just like the Irish weather back home…  
I shivered in my ordinary clothes. For the first time I really looked at them. My blue skinny jeans had ripped in many places, and they were dirty and worn. My jumper was dirty and covered in pieces of dry mud and leaves. My hair was greasy and straggly. My eyes found clothes on the bench in the middle of the tent. They were Aaya's, an Indian dress and furry boots were left there. I hadn't noticed them last night, and vaguely wondered if she might have left them out for me while I was asleep.  
I pulled off my own clothes and left them on the ground, then shrugged into Aaya's clothes. They were warm, and comfy. I also found under the dress a furry cardie that fitted me finely. Rain started to pitter patter outside, becoming heavier and heavier. I stuck my head out the flap and attacked my hair with my hands. I hoped that maybe the dirt had washed out and retreated back inside the tent. I turned to face an anxious Aaya.  
I felt rude to take her clothes, but I decided to go with my assumption that she had left them out for me. She didn't seem worried about the clothes.

"I thought you wouldn't wake" , I muttered.

"Correction. I wasn't asleep."

"Oh."

"Are you going?"

I stared at the floor. "Yes."

"But-"

"No!" I lifted my head up and stared her straight in the eye. "Please don't tell me you've joined the Anti-RemyFight Society!"

I turned away from her, raking my hands through my drenched hair. I picked up my dirty clothes and tossed them under my bed.

"You can do this! Just not now! If we just wait a little longer-"

"I've spent my whole life in a waiting room" , I growled. "Now it's time to come out and take responsibility for my own destiny."

Aaya looked like she wanted to protest again, but just looked at me sadly.

"You can side with Peter if you want" , I continued. "But I'm going. Whether or not you agree with my decision, I'm going ahead with it anyway."

I glanced at the flapping tent door. I had nothing left to do. It was time to get it over with.  
Without another word, I moved towards the door. I jogged out of the camp and quickly broke into a run. The rain was pouring and I flicked my hair out of my eyes, squinting as I tried to see past the raindrops. I knew the cliff was near enough, and I was right. I saw the edge and legged towards it.

Think fly, I thought. Think fly, think fly….

BAM.


	11. The Final Breath

Cold. Wet. Hard. My eyes wouldn't open. I wasn't strong enough. I repeatedly tried until they opened the tiniest bit. My hands gripped the ground. They felt weird too.

"Open" , I muttered. Black. The sky was black. I squinted. That was no sky. My eyes were open, and it was all black. I heard drips of water, presumably from the rain. I turned my head from side to side and then realised I was lying down. What was I at lying down? Tomorrow I was going to get Hook, and go home, and….

Wait. That didn't sound right….. Oh God. I was going _today. _

I gasped and sat up, and then gasped again. My head was increasing with pain I hadn't even noticed before. I brought a hand to it and caressed it, willing it to go away. It didn't.

Memories flushed back. I shouldn't be there, wherever there was. I was supposed to be at Hook's ship and fighting him till the very end…and I wasn't. I remember a familiar blow to my head, and that was all. Someone had attacked me. Someone possibly named Hook. If it _was _him, he wouldn't have left me here to escape. He must've been there somewhere.  
I swallowed and quietly stood up. I seemed to be in a cave, but due to my lack of vision in the dark, I couldn't make out anybody standing there or any way out of it. I walked forward, the fur boots making a squelching noise with water-soaked soles. I carried on, feeling the walls with my hands. I couldn't hear the rain anymore. Perhaps it had stopped. The cave seemed to be getting lighter, the entrance nearer. I wanted to leave but I knew I couldn't. I had to get it over with. So I mustered all of my braveness and opened my mouth.

"Hey, Hook! Where are you then? Too scared to face a girl?"

"Oh, never, my darling. It's only a matter of time before I never have to face you again."

I shuddered. He seemed eerily near, and I wasn't expecting him to answer back.

"Well…come out then! Show yourself!"

A bang sounded, and I screamed. Rocks began to fall out of the ceiling and a clear pool of light filled the cave. He must've shot at it. The rocks landed behind a little way back behind me. I turned, and Hook was standing there. The light almost seemed like he had a spotlight all to himself, to put on the show.

"Let's do this" , I whispered angrily. "Hope you made your funeral arrangements before you left the ship."

"Oh, dear. Your silly little plan isn't going to work today. No, no."

"What little plan?"

"Well, it wasn't much of a plan to begin with. I was out for a stroll last night, and I came across Peter and you…young love."

I snorted. "So why didn't you just kill me then? Would've saved you all this hassle."

"I don't play my way like that, Kingsley. I simply _couldn't _attack you in the company of Peter, could I? Defenceless as well? We can't have that now."

"I'm not following."

"Oh, but he would be simply _devastated. _Killing the girl he loves right in front of him? That doesn't seem fair."

"He doesn't _love _me. You're more looney than I first thought."

He simply smiled maliciously. "Open your eyes, dear. Now, we must get this over with."

He held up a thick silver gun.

"Wait!" , I said quickly. "You said you wouldn't fight me defenceless."

"Ah" , he simpered. "In the company of Peter, I would not. But look! No Peter! Job done in two minutes!"

I couldn't run. I wouldn't have had enough time to get away. It was over.

The gun clicked.

"Goodbye" , Hook whispered. "My dear relative."

"NOOOO!"

His bullet plunged into my chest, and the pain seared through. I screamed in terror and fell to the ground, defenceless. He smiled at me in the most unkind and disgusting way before finally turning to a person on the left of me. They were dark, hidden by the shadows. Their head was turned towards me, just staring. Drops began to fall to the ground.

Plink. Plink. Plink.

Then a furious and ferocious yell echoed off the cave walls.

"MURDERER! BETRAYER!"

I realized in dismay that it was Peter. Now he would die too.

"No…" , I moaned. "Go, you prat…not you too…"

Peter didn't seem to hear me. He drew out his knife and started attacking Hook, who drew out his own ten-times bigger sword from his belt. I looked on helplessly, feeling my energies drain. I knew I was slowly dying, but I didn't feel fear. Only anxiety, for Neverland and for Peter's safety. Nothing else was on my mind.

"Go…" , I moaned louder. "Leave, you prat…!"

I was sure Peter had heard me but he continued the fight. "You should listen to your girlfriend Peter!" , Hook said maliciously. The clinking of swords was constant. "She has a point. She will most certainly die, how precious she fears for the safety of you."

"SHE WILL NOT DIE!" , Peter yelled through tears.

My eyelids started to droop. I knew that if I let them close my life would be over in a matter of seconds. I fought to keep them open and my eyes scanned wearily around the fighting figures of Peter and Hook, searching for something to help. My vision was starting to fade. I squinted at a sharp-looking object on the ground, centimetres away from me. I slowly recognised it to be a sharp pointed rock that had maybe fallen from the ceiling. I stretched my arm out to reach it and gasped in pain. I ground my teeth together and reached again, finally grasping it in my palm.  
I quickly tested it and sure enough a glinting bead of blood started to appear. I balled up my hands into fists, unsure of how capable I was to throw anything. Then, without really deciding, I wrenched my arm back and threw the rock with all of the little strength I had left and fired it at Hook's head. He gasped – probably in fright because he hadn't seen it coming – and put a hand to his head, trying to figure out what had just happened. Peter took his cue and plunged his knife directly into Hook's stomach.  
It was Hook's turn to scream then. He clutched his stomach in pain and looked at Peter, shaking in anger.

"You will die for this" , he said angrily, his words wobbling a little. "Or rather, she will" , indicating to me with his hook. Then he surprisingly hobbled away, the threats of Peter finishing him for good keeping him at bay. I could hear him gasping all up the cave, and it finally stopped. He was gone.

Peter rushed to my side, dropping the knife. He stared at me in horror.

"Hi", I said weakly.

He was speechless for a moment, and then began.

"I'll carry you back to the Indian camp, they'll help –"

"Don't" , I said tiredly. "Don't give yourself false hope. It's over, Peter. I'm over."

He shook his head, tears falling faster.

"Yes" , I whispered.

"I'm sorry" , he whispered back, plinking of tears echoing off the cave walls. "This is all my fault…" He hid his head in his hands.

I reached out my hand and took them away. I looked into his eyes. They glistened, and for the first time I noticed how beautiful they were. They weren't the same eyes I had encountered in the park back home. Those eyes were full of hope and tiredness, but always a little bit of mischievous was tucked away, barely visible, but always there. It wasn't now.  
All I saw in his brown eyes was anxiety overload. I felt bad for making him feel this way. I didn't want him to stay, but I knew there was no hope in convincing him to leave me to die. Would he stay there when I was dead? The thought played across my mind, and I was a little surprised at how calm I was.  
Maybe I knew I would die in my mission. Maybe I was preparing for it, mentally unaware.

"Remy…" , Peter whispered. "You can't do this. You can't leave me."

I rested my hand on his cheek, wiping the tears away as they trickled down his face one by one.

"I have to" , I said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"What have you to be sorry for?" , he whispered.

"I've failed you" , I said sadly. I knew my death was nearing.

He shook his head. "No", he gulped. "No. Please don't say that."

"Well, it's not like I can help up there, can I?", I joked.

He didn't seem to find the humour. I bit my lip, wondering what to say next.

"Ow!" I gasped. My chest was heaving, blood trickling from my wound leaving red splotches on my Indian attire. Peter looked on helplessly.

"Please", he whispered. "You have to let me take you to the Indian's. They could help!"

I shook my head slowly. "It won't work. The bullet's in my chest, Peter. It's too late."

And with that, I began to feel my eyelids droop once more. I hadn't the energy to keep them open much longer. My energy was burned, nothing more than a small tiny flame slowly going out. My hand started to slide from Peter's face. He grasped it desperately with both of his, squeezing it. I gave him a weak smile.

"I'll say hi to Fox for you, yeah? I'll tell him all about what happened, and all the fun we had. I promise."

He looked the smallest bit surprised, but gave a small nod.

I nodded back at him. "Take care of my Mam. And Joseph. Keep an eye on them."

He nodded again. "I don't want you to go" , he said, unable to control his breathing for the tears had him gasping.

"Ah, but I have to. Fate, remember? This is mine."

My eyelids started to close, and I knew this was the end. Soon it was black, and my last breath was on its way to greet me.

"Remy…" , Peter whispered. I no longer felt his grip on my hand. I was leaving my body. My last breath was here.

And I left.


	12. Watching The Pain

I opened my eyes to face a pearl sky, not a single cloud to ruin its beautiful flow. I was blown away for a split second before I remembered. Was I still alive?  
I sat up and looked around. Everywhere was white, and there were huge white stone pillars at each side of the room. I thought it peculiar. I looked down at my clothes. The blood-soaked dress and wet boots were gone – I had white patent shoes on and a soft silk white dress. I got to my feet and looked behind me. Same scenery.

"I was wondering when you would get here."

I turned. Martina was standing there in the same clothes as me, smiling

She looked different…so much better. No cuts, no deep circles under her eyes, she was just happy. I ran at her and fell into her arms.

"It's my Remy" , she whispered.

"Is this for real?"

She nodded and released me. She looked happy, but sad.

"I have so many questions to ask you –"

"They can wait. You've had some whirlwind of an adventure, eh?"

"Have you been watching me?"

She nodded again. "I've never stopped, ever since I woke up. Though I have to admit I was a bit shocked when you decided to go with Peter. Didn't you think it was a bit of a completely bananas decision?"

I bit my lip nervously. "Did you watch me die?"

She sighed sadly. "Yes. I left to come see you. I knew you'd wake up here."

"How?"

"Haven't you noticed what this place is?"

"No!"

"This is the same room as where our parents got married! Except much cleaner…wouldn't you agree?"

I gasped. "This is seriously the same room? I thought I might've seen those pillars somewhere before, but other than that this place is pretty unrecognizable."

"I know. Come on now. We've got stuff to do." She turned away from me and began walking. I jogged up to her and kept the pace, eager to stay with her as long as I possibly could.

"What kinda stuff?"

She sighed again. "I know you told me not to intervene in your love life, but this is some crazy shit."

"I don't get it."

She rolled her eyes. "Peter, Einstein! How could you not have noticed that he totally ADORES you?"

"Get real."

"You'll admit to it one day. But for now, I thought you might want to see him."

"What?! Is he here?"

"No, but we can watch him. Like I watched you."

"Oh."

We continued walking in silence for another minute or so before Martina stopped. She did a simple wave of the hand and a hole broke through the white marble floor, the shape of a perfect cut circle.

"Tell it what you want to see and where they are" , she told me.

"Um…Peter Pan, Neverland."

And just like that, a clear image came through. It was like watching a television, but with double the HD.

"You can step in if you want" , Martina whispered. "I'll keep watch."

I swallowed. "Ok."

I walked over onto the circle and gradually sunk into it. And _whoosh, _I was in a familiar looking piece of woodland. _Neverland_.

I heard leaves crackling and breaking. Someone was coming.

A heart-breaking wail filled the air and I covered my mouth. I knew that wail anywhere. And suddenly he appeared out of the trees across from me.

He was carrying my body, cradling it. Most of the blood was hidden by his jacket which was wrapped around me. He never took his eyes off of my face, and his tears slid down my cheeks. I followed him in despair. I hated seeing him like this.

"Peter, please don't cry! Not over me!"

He didn't hear my yells and carried on. I ran after him, feeling light on my feet. If I wasn't dead I would've joked about being the new Usain Bolt.

He was heading towards the Indian camp. I didn't want Curly, nor Tootles, or Aaya, or Kina, or any of the others seeing me dead. I'd done enough already without them having to see my body and live through the horror.

Almost there. I gave a shuddery breath.

There.

Peter was loud entering the camp, making little sad noises and trying to control his tears.

"Peter!", Curly shouted. "Remy!"

He bolted out of the tent I had shared with Aaya. He had a grin on his face until he saw my body. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"No…she can't be…she's not…"

"Yes!", Peter screamed. "She's dead! She's gone! She's not coming back…" He broke down again.

I heard a shrill scream and Aaya appeared from the tent, already crying. She saw my body and gave another scream of terror. She covered her face with her hands and screamed, again and again. Curly took her and she hid her face in his chest, while he looked at my body, shock and emotion throughout his eyes. Peter ignored them and carried my body into the tent. I followed and watched him place me onto my bed. His eyes were dry, but he just looked stunned. He began to cry again and fell to the ground, pulling his arms around his legs and wailing. He rocked back and forth. I so desperately wanted to comfort him, to tell him I was there.  
My eyes searched the tent and found one of Aaya's necklaces that she never wears. I grabbed it quickly and flung it at his head and it impacted on the shells which was bound to attract _some _kind of attention. He looked up hopefully at my body for a second and then returned back to wailing.

"Don't" , I whispered. "Please stop."

I could still hear the crying of Aaya outside, and there were more voices. Most of the Indians had heard.

"Peter! Please!" , I yelled. He didn't hear a thing.

Suddenly _I _began to cry with the unfairness of it all. I was causing them pain, wasting their tears and emotion. I felt sickened just watching Peter alone, to watch him like that. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. Harder than reading the speech at Martina's funeral, harder than those days after her death, harder than anything else I had ever encountered. It was more painful than death itself.

_Fwoomp_.

Wind blew into my eyes as I was bracing myself for a hard landing. No such thing occurred. I tried to signify my location.

"Martina?"

"I'm here."

She came to my side and wrapped her arms around me.

"Where are we?," I mumbled.

"I like it here. It's peaceful, and I thought it best to bring you to it."

I lifted my head and frowned. This place was all too familiar.

"Is this _my_ clifftop?"

She smiled. "Yes."

It was the clifftop outside camp. It was beautiful. My eyesight was in HD, the gleam of the sun shone a thousand different colours on the blades of grass that blew swiftly in the gentle breeze.

"Why'd you bring me here?"

She frowned at me. "It was better than having you ball your eyes out at the sight of your own body."

"I wasn't crying because of my _body! _I was crying because seeing everybody mourning…and Peter…and…"

"Sorry, Rem. I know. I know what it's like. It was no picnic watching you guys when I died."

"Yeah well, don't commit suicide then. It might be less painful," I snapped.

I turned away from her but instantly regretting my thoughtless stab at my sister.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"It's okay," she said softly. "Are you mad, Rem? That I left?"

I sighed. "No…I'm just going through emotional stress. Nothing out of the ordinary for a teenage girl who's just been murdered and is now having a normal conversation with her dead sister."

I sat down on the grass.

"As you do," Martina said, sitting beside me.

I pondered my next question. I fidgeted. "Marty?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…now what?"

"Oh…well, I've got something to tell you."

"Keep going."

"I had a little chat with a few kind souls earlier before you set out to find Hook. I knew you were being a prat and that you were going to be killed, so I had a back-up plan."

"Okay…"

"I've stored my memories. All of you, and of what you've done ever since you came to Neverland. These souls are nice but they aren't the emotional-huggy-sensitive type. I had to make them see that you were worthy of staying in physical form, whether it be here or back home."

A tingling sensation went down my spine. "And did you?!"

She laughed at my enthusiasm. "Thankfully, yes. Now you've got a choice. You can either move on into the next stage or go back…I'm not sure there's much prizes to guess what you're gonna pick."

I smiled. "You know me too well."

She nodded. "I love you, little sis. I'll always be watching you. Just be a bit more careful, yeah? This offer ain't gonna come up again anytime soon."

"I will."

"Good. I guess we'll get to catch up another time. I _might _just have a wonder into your dreams one of these nights."

"I honestly wouldn't mind," I said truthfully.

She laughed. "It's a date. You're going back now, okay? Tell loverboy I said hi."

I groaned. "On second thoughts, I might be busy that night."

She just shook her head at me, smiling. I stood and she did, giving me a huge hug.

"See you later," she whispered.

And then she and the scenery disappeared out of view, and it was only black.

A huge impact came into my chest as I took my first breath. My eyes flew open and I was staring at the tent roof. I couldn't believe I was back. I turned my head, expecting to find Peter sitting there.

But he wasn't there. I sat up shakily, trying to get used to my physical body. I noticed that when I was dead everything felt light-as-a-feather, but in physical everything was heavy, including myself. I dragged my legs around and set my feet on the ground, preparing to stand. There was no movement outside, no voices. I winced. The village was in mourning.

I stood and felt the blood rush into my legs. It was a relieved feeling, and I sighed peacefully. Now I just had to show the others I wasn't really dead and then they'd stop obsessing over my once dead body, seeing as I'd felt bad enough already.  
I walked out of the tent quietly. Nobody was around outside. Thin black smoke still seeped out of the gone-out fire in the middle of the village.

"Hello? Peter? Curly? Aaya, Tootles?"

No answers. I decided to try another.

"Raybha?"

"My dear, I knew you wouldn't stay in the spirit world. At least not for long, anyhow."

She stepped out of a tent facing me, her face full of wonder.

"Raybha, I-"

"No! No time for chat! You must go to the others! Show you are not dead, they won't believe an old Indian like me! Go, child!"

"Where?"

"The clifftop! They're having a memorial service!"

I sprang into action and leaped over the logs at the fire at full speed. I ripped towards the clifftop, trying not to think about breathing. I was focused on finding them, bringing peace to them, to all of them.

"Remy was a good person. A kind, brave, and joking person…"

There were no winds, and I was close enough to hear Curly beginning his speech about me. I wiped tears away from my eyes, they annoyingly blurred my vision.

"She was here for a task, and I never thought I would ever really associate with her. But that changed for when I met her myself. She joked we would be best friends, and looking back, I thought she was mental. But I, like everybody else, grew to love her. The thought didn't cross my mind that she wouldn't…wouldn't make it."

He paused.

"But she didn't. She's –"

"WAIT!"

I stopped at the cliff. "Hang on…," I said breathlessly. I put one arm on my right knee and pointed my finger in the air. "Just gimme a second…"  
The pain in my chest relieved a little so I stood up straight.

Everybody was gaping at me.

And I mean _everybody. _Even the freakin' birds were having a gawk.

"Oh…er…hi, peeps. What's the craic?"

Curly stared at me frightfully.

I frowned. "What?"

He seemed terrified I'd spoken to him. "Are…are you a ghost?," he barely managed.

My face dropped. "Honestly, Curls. You'd think that seeing as we're bestos you'd know whether or not I was the real deal. And _no,_ by the way. I'm not a ghost."

The tension relieved in his face, and he looked like Curly again. I smiled.

"REMY!"

Aaya ran towards me and folded me into her arms. I hugged her back.

"Nice to see you again," I said happily.

Another person joined the hug, and the sight of an orange curl told me Curly was back. He hugged my back as Aaya had my front. We were all laughing.

Cheers erupted from the Indians and the ground was shaking with the jumping and dancing. I was squished as many more people joined the hug, but I didn't care. I shrugged out of it and the others began dancing around.

"But where's-"

He was standing about ten metres away from me, his eyes lost. I looked at him carefully for any signs of Curly-type misunderstanding. But he knew I was real.

"Hey."

His mouth opened but he didn't seem to find any words. So he just stood there like a random goldfish staring me out of it.

I walked towards him until we were face to face and stared him straight in the eyes. It was only a second before the seriousness disappeared and I burst out laughing straight into his face, pulling him into a hug. I could feel him shaking as well.

"You okay?"

"Better now you're here," he croaked.

I set him in front of me. He was_ crying_, not laughing.

"Please! Not the waterworks! You're killing my buzz! It's not allowed!"

"It _is,_" he insisted. "You've just died and now returned from the dead. What do you expect me to do?"

"I didn't expect you to _cry_ anyway!"

He just shook his head and pulled me into another hug. "If you _ever _leave again to do something stupid like that I'll have to lock you up somewhere."

"Okay," I sighed. "I promise."

"You swear?"

"I swear on my sister's life."

"Good. It's settled then."

"Yeah."

We stood hugging for quite a few minutes.

"Remy?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah. Love you too, Pete."


	13. Aquarium Drama

**Two Years Later :**

"Wow, look at him," Sean said, pointing to a huge shark at the back of the tank. "He's awesome."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Pretty awesome." He chuckled.

"Sean O'Reilly! Quiet please!," Miss O'Keefe yelled.

"Be quiet yourself," I muttered.

She didn't hear. "Alright, class! You know I promised that I'd let you all off to go around…and judging by the good behaviour of the trip so far I'm keeping my word. You all have an hour. Don't leave the building and meet up with me in the lobby!"

Everybody scattered, desperate to get away from her. She was very depressing at times when she decided to have a little chat about divorces every once in a while (which is probably because she was divorced like three times already) .

"So where now?," Sean asked.

"You pick. We could go to the Underwater Zone if you want?"

"Grand. Let's go."

He set off at a brisk speed. I smiled. Sean was my bestest friend EVER. We met up in first year and have been glued to the side ever since. He reminded me of…..them. I didn't really like to think about that now. It was upsetting and there was no point in worrying about them. I was never going to see them again.

"Remy? You okay?"

Sean had stopped and was facing me, concerned. I had stopped without even realizing it, just staring at the ground. I smiled at him.

"Yeah, fine. Sorry. My mind wandered."

He laughed but walked beside me this time, even though I knew it drove him mad to walk slowly. I was the world's biggest slowpoke.

"We're here, now," he said after a few minutes.

We stepped into a tunnel full of bright flashing colours. The roof was the shape of a dome and stretched far down. It was entirely made of glass and the fish and sharks were everywhere, watching us humans with curiosity.

"This is so cool," I breathed.

"Much better than doing Religion with Miss McKay anyways," Sean said. He was staring at the glass ceiling with interest, watching all the fish glide through the waters. They looked insanely beautiful, but the sharks beside us on the right behind the glass fascinated me. I stepped towards the glass until I could see every detail of their skin, their eyes, and their teeth. They didn't scare me.

"Sean, look, this is-" I stopped. There was a person on the other side of the glass staring me out of it. I could only see their eyes, because another school was passing by. The eyes were oddly familiar, but I couldn't think where I might've seen them before. A few stragglers from the school rushed pass to catch up with the others and I finally had full view of the person.

It was a boy. Young. Lively. Looking gobsmacked.

I stared at him in shock. There was no chance of this being a mistake.

Panic set in.

"Sean, I'm going to have a look around," I gabbled. "I think I saw some friends coming in a while ago."

"Okay," he said cheerfully. "I'm going to watch sharks being fed."

He walked off. I took one last look at the boy on the other side before darting down the corridor. I dodged out of mothers with their kids and buggy's before I met the corner and sped around it.  
I didn't want to have to do it again. To go through the same pain as before, for this to be in my life again. I had to get as far away as I possibly could without him seeing where I was going. I didn't want to talk to him.

I got to the toilets and sped into the girls. Nobody was there, or in the stalls. I bundled into the very last stall and put the seat down, sitting down carefully and trying to slow my breathing.

I couldn't _believe_ this was happening. What did he want now?

If it was Hook again I'd just toss him into Sean's favourite shark and get it over with. But after what…._happened, _I didn't think he'd want to risk that again.  
So what was it?

I knew I said some things I shouldn't have said….maybe I got his hopes up. And maybe he decided to come back to find me to see if I'd go back with him again, because I said I _loved him._ I felt like slapping myself across the face.

"Stupid…stupid Remy…," I growled.

Then the creak of the bathroom door went and I shut up. I got off the seat and flushed the toilet, waiting for a few seconds. Just as the other girl was entering her cubicle I burst out of mine. I ran the tap so it would sound like I was washing my hands, turned it off and then stuck my left hand under the hand dryer. It started drying invisible hands and I took my cue to leave. I left the bathroom silently. I was about to go straight ahead when I noticed someone blocking my path.  
I looked up wildly but sighed with relief. It was only Lucy Hutchinson. She was in my class at school. I never really talked to her much, but I knew from watching and seeing that she had to have her nose in everybody's business.

"Hey, Remy," she said, twisting her black as night hair in her fingers.

"Um, hey. I've got to go find-"

"Oooh, don't tell me. I already know." She smiled to herself.

"Know what?"

"That guy," she said slyly. "He was looking for you."

My heart started going crazy inside my chest, bouncing off of my lungs and everywhere else, doing twists and spins.

"What guy?," I asked, trembling.

"He just said to tell you that 'Peter is waiting in the place where he saw you'. Kind of weird, if you ask me. So, have you known him long?"

"Look," I swallowed. "I'll tell you everything later on, okay?"

Her eyes brightened. "Okay!"

I turned away from her, the back of my mind plotting a scheme about my imaginary cousin Harry A.K.A Peter, who wanted to tell me about his mother's hospital operation, as I sped-walked back to the place he was when I saw him. I just had to go and put him straight, and then I was getting out of there.

I looked briefly at the fish tank on my right. I realised in a split second that that was where I was when I saw him. I stopped dead in my tracks and peered around fearfully.

A few mams pushing buggies, some of my classmates shoving each other up close to the sharks, but otherwise, no Peter.

_Maybe he gave up and left,_ a small voice in my mind said. Although I was hopeful I dismissed it as wishful thinking.

And then I saw him. He was standing behind a round wall just off the lobby entrance, looking around shiftily. He wore a black hoodie with his hood up, and grey faded jeans. But I wasn't bothered by his unusual choice of clothing. I folded my arms and started to walk toward him slowly, second thoughts creeping back up on me. I could've easily just turned around and start walking. I had grown a good bit so he might've not recognised me.

He did another look around and caught sight of me. His mouth literally _fell_ open, and he completely forgot about being discreet. He just stood there like a stunned goldfish.

People frowned when they saw him, matching his eyes to me and then shaking their heads. I sped up my walk until I was right in front of him.

"Rem-"

I shook my head furiously. "Not here," I snapped. "Come with me."

I whipped round and sped into the lobby. I spotted Miss O'Keefe giving two of my classmates a hard time. They probably tried to escape undetected. Well, that's what I was _going_ to do. I simply brought a hand to my face and cupped it, pretending to scratch my cheek. I could hear Peter's quick footsteps behind me, trying to keep up with my pace. Miss O'Keefe's loud voice was getting a bit quieter and I found myself at the door. I grabbed the handle and flung it open, starting to run for the paranoia of being caught when I was so close.

But I got away, and ran with all my strength down the path on the left. I knew a place there.

I wheeled round the corner to my old playschool, where I had once attended. It was the very same as I had left it that cold night two years ago, when I had made the biggest mistake in my lifetime.  
I went round to the back of it, knowing that we would be completely alone. And I was right. There was nothing but dead leaves and scraped tarmac. Peter's footsteps stopped and I kept my back to him.

"What do you want?," I asked.

I waited patiently for a few seconds. No answer.

I turned round. _Just get it over with_, I thought.

I was confused. I had turned around to his neck, not his head. I tilted my head up a little and I finally saw his face. I gasped without warning.

_He grew._

He was taller, more muscular, and even a few spots had come into view of his once younger face.

He seemed to be studying me more than I was studying him. His eyes were wide and looked like two golf balls with one little circle drawn on them each.

He looked _horrified._

And I mean horrified as in he had just seen the most ghastly and disgusting thing ever.

"You changed," he finally muttered. His voice had deepened.

"Likewise," I said through gritted teeth.

There were another few silent moments.

"If this doesn't go anywhere, then _I'm_ going," I threatened.

He said nothing.

Well, he missed his chance. I started to leave, frustrated, and he caught hold of my elbow.

"Let. Me. _Go_."

His grip was firm.

"What _is it?! _What's wrong _now?"_

He spun me around to face him. All traces of his disgusted face had disappeared. Etched wrinkles in his forehead were showing instead.

"You need – I need….I need you to come back."

My face dropped. Words started to form in my mouth.

"Are you _fucking kidding me? _I'm not going anywhere with you! I still have my life! Remember that? I've got more things to worry about –"

He sighed. "Tonight, at the square. Meet me there."

And with that, he turned around and started walking away.

I threw my arms up in the air and let them slap on my sides.

"Get back here!"

He had already left. I left the playschool quickly. There was no sign of him anywhere. He disappeared into smoke.

I read the clock hanging up on the back wall through a shop window and I had only five minutes left to get back to the aquarium.

My legs carried me as fast as they could back to the aquarium. Breathless, I covered my face as I re-entered and tried to act normal while gasping. I passed the round wall and my eyes flew towards Sean, who was sitting on a wooden bench set in front of the fish tanks on the left.  
I walked towards him, my breathing letting in and out more evenly.

"Hey," I said, smiling at him.

"Where've you been?!," he demanded, staring at me.

"With – with friends, like I said. Why?"

He looked like he was about to self – destruct. "I was _worried_, that's why."

I sat beside him. "Sorry, Sean," I said quietly. "I didn't – the time just got away from me."

"Clearly," he mumbled.

"Aw, Sean! Come on, don't be mad at me! Please?" I put my hands together and begged.

He tried not to look at me but it was all too much for my Seanie. He grunted.

"Yay!"

He laughed a little. "Don't worry, Rem. Not mad anymore."

_Ping ping ping! Lightbulb!_

"Good," I said slowly. "'Cause I have a huge favour to ask you…"


	14. Be Alone

"So let me get this straight. You've known this guy for a long time…and you're just having a little catch up?"

I looked left and right down the road. "Something like that."

"So why am I coming?"

I sighed. "I met up with him when I…y'know. Ran away."

"Ohhh," he said, nodding.

We crossed the road quickly. I had told Sean a massive lie that I told everybody else – that I couldn't cope with Martina's death at the time and had to get away. That was something I was never going to do again, no matter what Peter needed. I wasn't going to Neverland ever again…so why would he want to meet up? I cursed him under my breath as we passed the jeweller's shop window, all done up for Halloween with plastic pumpkins and fake cobwebs.  
I didn't really like Halloween – the whole effort of it was kind of pointless in my opinion. I was much more of a 's Day fan really.

"Where is he then?"

We had reached Victoria Square in the middle of the town – darkness had just begun to set in. The glass panes of the two joint Eircom phoneboxes shone in the light of the old black street lights, giving perfect view of empty takeaway cartons from the chippers across the road inside. It was quiet enough, apart from the singing drunks up the town, who could put on a show when they wanted.

"He'll be here soon," I assured him. "I'll wait on the benches on the square, but I need you to wait inside the café for me. He might not come if he sees you."

"Probably won't come anyways," he grumbled. "But fine. But I'm waiting in the window seats, alright?"

"Okay."

"And if he starts trying it on, you know I won't be able to stop myself –"

"I _know_. And he _won't_, don't worry."

He didn't seem satisfied, but grunted. He headed towards the café on the right of the square, shooting me a dirty look before entering and quickly claiming one of the two window seats for himself. A waitress came over to him, and I jogged over to the benches and sat down. They were wooden, and really cold. Even for October in Ireland, it was too cold. I clenched my hands into fists in an attempt to stop them going numb.  
I looked at the café window. Sean was keeping his eyes on me, his body rigid. He seemed ready to pounce if anything was to happen – which it wouldn't. And if Peter _did_ try it on, I'd be the one kicking where you aren't supposed to kick first. I giggled at the thought of Sean's face.

I stopped a millisecond afterward. I wasn't there to laugh or to joke. I was there to set things straight before getting things on with the rest of my life. I regretted immensely everything I had done those two years before. I was stupid, and naïve. I thought I knew it all – the whole shebang of being in 'love' or whatever. Really I was just kidding myself the whole way through. I was glad that I finally had some sense in me…I wouldn't be pressured into going back to Neverland. Never gonna happen.

I looked left and right. Nobody was about – it was just me looking like a stupid kid sitting in the square by herself. I was sure people would think I looked like a loner – then again, there was nobody there to approve that suggestion.

I sighed and took my phone out of my pocket. My Blackberry was a distant memory, and it was kind of weird to think that it was somewhere in the woodlands of another world.

Joseph bought me an iPhone as my thirteenth birthday present, for which I was very grateful, seeing as they're around five hundred euros. A little too expensive, in my opinion. But I wasn't going to complain.

The family grew closer after I came back. I guessed we realized it was too easy to lose each other, and it brought us together. It sounded cheesy, but it was true.

I opened up my messages and texted Sean.

Haha you should see ur face

My phone beeped a second later.

Not funny :P

I looked at the window and gave him a thumbs-up. He nodded, rolling his eyes and taking his coke off the table, holding it in his hands. He looked as if he was trying to make up his mind about something. I turned away. I was never good at the whole awkward meeting – eyes thing. I learned that from too much experience.

I was starting to get frustrated. Where was he? He was certainly taking his time. Possibly practising to try and persuade to go back.

If he was, it was going to be a waste of time.

I couldn't do that to my family again, and not to Seanie either. I wondered if I could just rub my family's pain into Peter's face and see what he thought then.

The day I came back was…..mental. I arrived at the playschool again in the Indian gear. I looked like a twat but I didn't care. I hurried to my house and flung myself through the doorway.

"Mam?," I had called. "Joseph?"

Some of the Gardaí bursted out of the sitting room into the hall.

"Remy Kingsley?," a female one said, her eyes wide.

I nodded.

"MY REMY!" My mam also burst out of the sitting room and took me in as if she couldn't quite believe I was really there. Like a figment of her imagination.

She looked so _tired_. And weak. And thin….much too thin. Her jeans hung off of her, barely holding onto her bony hips.

"Hi ma," I whispered.

She ran towards me and folded me into her arms, stroking my hair.

"I'm sorry," I whispered again. "I'm so sorry."

I peeked at the Gardaí's emotions over her shoulder. For some of them, it was a face of relief. For others, they were still stunned.

I found out later that the Gardaí thought I might have ran away and taken my own life, seeing as I had disappeared off the face of the earth. Which I had, but I didn't add that part in. There had been a 50,000 euros reward for anybody who found me, dead or alive. As for the Indian clothes, I fobbed them off with the lie of me wanting to look different so people wouldn't know who I was. I told them I got the clothes in some charity shop in town.

And they believed every last word of it. It added up, in their opinions. But in my head it was lie after lie. I felt horrified when I had seen what I had done.

My mother was a bag of bones, Joseph had been out with search parties twenty-four seven, and my picture and details had been plastered everywhere in five counties. My face was on the front of Irish newspapers and on billboards in Dublin.

I registered how much damage I had done to my family and others, and I came up with a decision.

_I was never going back._

I realised my hands were gripping the edge of the bench and I was staring at the ground, my teeth clenched.

I looked up to see Sean staring at me worriedly. I smiled at him reassuringly and looked left and right. Nobody seemed to be around. Peter knew this was his last chance, but he decided to put on a no show? It was fine by me.

_Wait_, my conscience pleaded. He just might be running late. _It hasn't been that_ _long anyways._

"It's been long enough," I muttered. I jumped up from the bench, despite my screaming conscience protesting. I quickly walked to the café and let myself inside, sliding onto the leather seat in the window beside Sean.

"He's not coming then?," he asked happily.

"No, not today," I said, smiling a little at his enthusiasm. "I should have known. Sorry for dragging you with me."

"It's ok. Besides, I got Coke. Want any?"

"No, it's ok." I folded my arms. I was well pissed off with Peter. No logical explanations could come to mind as to why he didn't come. Something he was scared to tell me?  
But that just didn't sound right. Peter doesn't _get_ scared, right? Then again, a lot of things had changed about him. For instance, he grew. He got older, like he said he wouldn't. He was back _here. _And how did he find me anyways?

"Remy?"

"Oh. Yeah?"

"You ok?"

"Never better."

He didn't look satisfied. "Is this guy…" – he made waving gestures –"…dodgy?"

"Oh." I considered. "Sort of. But he would never hurt me."

"How do you know? You met him on the…_streets_, remember?"

I bit my lip. "I know, but you have to trust me."

_Trust me? How can he when I'm lying to him about where I even met Peter?_

"I do trust you. I just don't trust this guy."

"Okay. I understand."

He nodded. "D'you wanna go back home? You look worn out."

I sighed. "Grand. Go pay for your Coke. I'll wait outside."

I slid off the seat and wrenched the door open, passing from inside to outside. It was still cold. No surprises there.

Leaves of one of the trees in the square started to rustle. I blamed the wind, but there wasn't any. Especially not wind that hard to rustle them the way they were rustling. I stared at the tree curiously, searching for any sudden movements.  
I caught sight of something white out of the corner of my eye. I immediately focused on that. At first I thought it might have been a bird of some sort. But they were all sleeping…

_Is it you, Remy?_

"Yes," I answered back almost instantly. "Did Peter send you?"

_Yes. He apologises for not coming. He sent me to give you a message._

"Okay, what's his message?"

_Come to our bench at three o'clock tomorrow. Be alone._

I nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

_Goodbye now._

I watched it flutter away, above the library rooftop at the bottom at the square until it was out of sight. Sean bounded out of the door behind me, making me jump.

"Sorry, serious confusion over change," he said tiredly. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," I heard myself say. "Yeah. Let's go."

"D'you want me to walk you home?," he asked, peering at me. "You've gone a little white."

I nodded.

He sighed. "Come on so."

I walked beside him all the way home, smiling slightly or nodding every time he said something. I was piecing everything together in my head…or at least making the odd pieces squish in somehow to make sense. I thought over Peter's brief words echoed by the fairy.

_Come alone._

That was why he didn't show up. He must've have seen me with Sean…but was whatever he had to tell me really that important?

Sean left me at the front gate.

"Bye Remy," he called.

"Bye. See you later."

He nodded and turned left down the path, and disappeared around the corner out of sight. I trudged up the path and let myself in quietly.

"Hi, love!," mam called as soon as I had a foot in the door.

"Hi," I mumbled. "I'm going to bed, ma. I'm really tired."

"Okay, night love."

She didn't sound all that concerned, but that was a good thing. The over protectiveness had faded away eventually.

I dragged myself up the stairs and flopped onto my bed when I got into my room. Joseph was already in bed. I could hear his soft snores.

I rolled over on the bed on my back and closed my eyes.

"Peter," I muttered. "If you don't show up tomorrow, I am personally going to make sure Sean beats you up."

I sighed in exhaustion and cleared my mind, preparing for the blackness to fall.


	15. Roadside Terror

I trudged along on the road, watching my breath turn into condensation in the cold frosty air. It was, last time I had checked, half two. Which meant I had another half an hour to get to the park, and I was in no rush. I wasn't able to make up my mind about the whole thing. Do I want to see him, or do I not? I juggled these thoughts back and forth but my mind tired and I couldn't think straight anymore. Instead I focused on the dense woodland beside me. There was a path of green grass alongside the road which I used very rarely. But I found it was a quicker way to the hospital. It wasn't a busy road, but big enough. A waste really. No cars seemed to be about, so I thought I was safe enough from abductors.

I _thought._

It was another five minutes or so when I heard a car behind me. I kept on ahead but was a little quicker because of my over paranoia.

I heard the engine get louder and louder, and the car was right beside me. I didn't dare to look , but I was sure they were looking at me. I gulped and suddenly had a very very bad feeling about all of it.

"Excuse me!," a male voice called.

The car was driving alongside me. I didn't look.

"Sorry! Excuse me!," they hollered.

I looked but kept my pace. A man was sitting in the driver's seat, and nobody was accompanying him. He had brown curly hair, and a dazzling friendly smile. I didn't let my guard down.

"Hello! I'm lost, and looking for the hospital somewhere around here. My wife is in labour." He grinned. "I have to get there quickly, but I'm a little lost. Would you give me directions?"

_Lie, lie, lie, _I thought, terrified.

"I don't know," I said in a British accent. _Oh God, what the hell are you doing?_

The car stopped. "You must know something," he said, laughing a little too loudly.

I shook my head. "No, sorry."

I looked away and continued to walk, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

"Hey, kid!"

This voice was much scarier.

I turned around in utter fright.

"Get in the car," he said darkly. "Now."

My body stiffened, and my feet started going back.

"No?," he asked. "Would it make a difference if I had a gun, perhaps?"

I saw no gun, and wondered if this was a trick. But I couldn't see his right hand, which was by his door on the inside of the car. His left hand rested on the steering wheel.

I hadn't a clue what I was going to do.

But then…..it was possible. Dangerous, as I may lose my life because of it. But I wasn't going anywhere with him. My legs started towards the back door and he snorted triumphantly. I let my hand rest on the handle of the door for a second. I watched him in the mirror on his door. He was focusing on the road that lay ahead, not even bothering to check if I was getting in. My body tingled….and I was off as quick as the wind towards the dense woodland.

I heard no shots. He had lied.

But I heard his yells. "Kid, get back here! NOW!"

I ignored him and entered the trees, running and running and running.

My breath was starting to run out, for I was not great at running. But I decided not to think about it. The only thing on my mind was whether or not the man would follow me and find me. So I kept running.

The trees were getting thicker and denser by the second, and I had barely any space to run without tripping over endless branches and twigs on the forest floor. So I finally stopped behind a large round tree trunk, leaning on it with one hand for support as I gasped for air.

I covered my mouth with my free hand and kept still to listen for any movements: and there seemed to be none. I still didn't feel completely satisfied and kept quiet.

After several attempts of telling myself to be brave, I finally peeked round the right of the tree. Nobody was around, except for the odd bird tweeting and hopping along.

I let out a whoosh of breath – but it was interrupted.

Hands grabbed my shoulders and I instantly attacked.

"GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF! LEAVE ME ALONE! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

He was trying to grab my hands to stop me from hitting him but missed continuously.

"REMY! CUT IT OUT!"

I gasped. Had he been stalking me for ages or something?

I hit even harder again and again.

"REMY!"

He successfully grabbed my arms and pulled them to the sides of us, and tears streamed out of my eyes. This was it. This time I really was done for. I closed my eyes and waited for it to happen.

And waited.

And waited a little more.

Nothing had hurt me yet.

I peeked. A teenage boy with curly dark brown hair and dark brown eyes was staring at me worriedly.

"But – I – what?," I stammered.

"Are you okay? Did the man hurt you?"

"No, no….how did you – when did you – what!?"

I was completely shell shocked. But pretty soon, I was angry.

"You – you – utter _twat!_," I yelled furiously. "Were you _planning_ on giving me a heart attack? Or was it just a split second decision to have a dig at me?"

"Calm _down_," he said, his face still worried. I pulled my arms out of his grip and scowled.

"I think we should go to the park," he said nervously after a few seconds.

"There is no way in heaven and earth I am going out there! In case you've forgotten, there's a demented kidnapper out there that's taken a liking to me."

"He's gone. I saw him leave. He didn't even get out of the car."

I was puzzled. "Oh."

"I was about to come save you: honest! I saw you at the car door and thought you'd gone stone mad. I was about to dart out and get you, only –"

"I legged it for my life because I'm not stone mad."

He nodded.

"He said he had a gun," I said. "But he would've shot me if I ran, which was what I was willing to risk. So, if you put two and two together" – I put my two fists together - "no gun."

I studied him. He only looked at my eyes.

"Hello? I've got a million questions that need answering, and you're not bailing out now!"

He ignored me. "Has anyone ever told you your eyes are so bloody _big?_", he asked.

I frowned. "Eh, no, not many people."

He didn't respond, but continued to stare.

"Well, are we getting a move on anytime soon or are you just gonna have a great gawp at my eyeballs all day?"

He seemed to come back to reality and nodded. "Let's go."

He started walking and I followed, and sentence from my late loved one playing on repeat in my mind.

"I know you told me not to intervene in your love life, but this is some seriously messed up shit."

**A/N : Short, I know. I haven't updated for ages, sorry about that **** I have to study for the Christmas Exams, so updates will be slow like this. I'm sorry, and I hope I haven't lost too much readers…. ~G**


	16. Sharp Glows

Peter pushed the gate open and held it for me. I quickly entered with a mind full of memories. Yet again, it was empty. I looked at the swing Peter had rested on two years ago, before changing my whole life forever. I looked at the bench I occupied two years ago, only worrying about Martina and her health, a helpless kid. So much had changed, but for the better or worse, I would never distinguish.  
I found that my legs were taking me to the bench. I heard Peter beside me, but I didn't want to look. I didn't want to so much as give my eyes the chance to have a possible glimpse of the hospital across the road in which my sister had spent her final moments. Although I knew she was happy now, the memory still haunted me forevermore. Ambulance lights flashed then and again, filling the park up with sharp blue glows.  
I was at the bench and sat down precariously, keeping my knees tight together and staring ahead resting my chin on my hands. Peter flopped down beside me and I waited for him to say something to start off, but no such action was taken. I cleared my throat, but nothing else seemed to happen. I sighed.

"So you want me to come back?"

"Yes," he said.

"Why?"

"It's difficult."

"I'm sure I can handle it. You know that."

He sighed. "I know it sounds selfish – "

"Yeah," I cut him off. "It does."

He sighed again. "I know it sounds selfish….but I need you."

"Don't tell me why. Hook has a twin brother?"

"Don't joke about it!"

I turned to face him. He looked angry, and sad. I regretted that instantly.

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

He shook his head. "No, I am. This _is_ really selfish."

"But you haven't told me why you need me to come back."

"Yeah…I'm unprepared for that."

"Just tell me."

"I….I guess I don't have the full story. I know only a little…..but that's all I'll need for the moment. It's Raybha who knows all of it, and she says the piece of information I've been given will do. She doesn't trust me with the full story, I think."

"Well now you_ definitely_ have to tell me, because my imaginings are starting to stir," I said worriedly. "Is everyone okay? Is somebody sick?"

"No, no. Everyone is fine…but not knowledgeable to what we know."

"Well, _we_ don't know yet because it seems to me you're avoiding telling me."

I folded my arms and stared at him sternly, like my principal does to the kids in the hallway in school when they get a bit too noisy. He began to fidget, and looked uncomfortable. I narrowed my eyes.

"Okay, okay, fine! I swear, if looks could kill….."

"You'd be a dead man," I finished sweetly. "Come on then. Out with it."

He was wringing his hands and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"You…are the reason that…"

I waited patiently.

"That…I'm…growing."

I sneaked a peek at him. He looked very serious.

I spluttered. "Me? Come on, Peter. I thought you were a little bit brighter than that, to be honest."

"It's true!," he protested.

"I swear, I'll be blamed for third world problems next," I complained. "And how did you work that one out anyway? Was it the best you could come up with or…?"

"_It. Is. True."_

"Raybha?," I asked.

He nodded.

"But what are you so worried about? It's not the most absolutely horrible thing in the world, you know. So you're ahead a few years of the others, big deal –"

"No! That's exactly it. It's not just me. It's everybody. Everyone is growing and Raybha said it's because you were with us and you've to come back and break the binding and –"

"Whoa whoa whoa…," I said in a heavy Irish accent. "Shloww it down a little. Everybody is growing? Curly, Aaya, Tootles…" He nodded at each name.

"And…a binding? What's that?"

"It's the attachment between us all…like an invisible chain, linked between us and everybody else. They took such a liking to you." He sighed.

I secretly wondered if this "chain" had attached when I was dead. Watching them mourn was unbelievably painful, for them and me. Of course, seeing as I hadn't told anybody about my watching, I was hardly going to bring that up.

"How are we supposed to break it?"

"Raybha wouldn't tell me that part. She just said 'The girl must come'. So here I am."

He opened his mouth to speak again, but I held up my hand to stop him.

"I'm not sure if I can leave again."

His face dropped.

"And before you start clamouring, you didn't see my ma when I came back."

I shuddered at the memory once again, and remembered the night before as I went over it.

"Skin and bones," I said quietly. "That's all she was. She thought I killed myself."

The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

"Why did she think that?," Peter asked, totally caught off guard.

"Oh, um, family problems we were, er, having back then."

It was hard enough telling Curly about the real reason, let alone Peter too. I wasn't going to elaborate, and decided to change the subject.

"A shame, really. I thought you were better as a more mature and scruffy teenager."

"Scruffy?"

"Yeah. In a good way. Don't tell me you weren't scruffy in London?"

"Well…"

I nodded triumphantly. "There you go."

He rolled his eyes and looked at the ground for a moment.

"Hey! You distracted me!," he exclaimed, catching on eventually.

"You don't say."

"Please, Remy," he begged. "You have to."

"I don't have to do anything!," I retorted.

"Please! You don't even need to go without notice – you could just tell her a lie to get you away for a while!"

"So now you're asking me to lie?"

"It's not like you haven't done it in the past."

I scowled. Why did he have to make this so difficult?

Without even realising, a plan started to piece together in my brain. I could tell ma and Joseph I was going to a friend's house to stay for a few days…it should buy me enough time. But the only time I could do that was during the Christmas Holidays, which were two months away. I could tell Peter was frightened of old age and death.

"You owe me," I growled. "Big time."

His eyes widened. "Seriously? You're coming?"

"Yes," I managed. "But not now. In two months, when we're out for school. I have two weeks holidays."

He gave a big girly squeal and hugged me tightly.

"I can't believe you're actually coming back," he said, his voice muffled.

"It's short – term," I reminded him. "Not forever."

"Oh, yeah, I know."

I wasn't convinced but didn't want to pursue the matter any further. "Let me go. I need to breathe."

"Sorry," he said, pulling me back from him almost instantly.

"Thanks."

There were a few silent moments, and Peter fidgeted a lot. I watched him out of the corner of my eye.

"Anything else?"

He looked a bit sheepish. "I – er – no…."

"Spit it out."

"I…um…was curious…does Sean give nice hugs or…?"

"Oh good Lord," I moaned, covering my face with my hands. "Here we go."


	17. Remy's Doing

**Two Months Later :**

"Bye," I said again, hugging ma. Again.

"Bye love," she said, holding me tightly. "Be careful, okay?"

"I will." She released me and I looked at Joseph, wondering if we were at hugging stage. He gave me a simple pat on the shoulder. Guess not.

"Bye, Remy. Hope you have fun," he said carefully. We were at yet another rocky stage, but we'll never be father and daughter properly. This was probably the closest we'd ever get to a father – daughter relationship, which was fine by me.

"Thanks." I picked up my bag and swung it over my shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to Alison's house?," Joseph asked. "It wouldn't be a problem."

"No, it isn't too far away. We need plenty of time to get ready anyway before the flight."

Joseph seemed puzzled. "That's code for boys," ma said, giggling.

"Oi! Is not!," I protested. Joseph cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable.

"Well, I'll be going now. Bye guys." I saluted them and walked rather quickly towards the door, looking back at them once more.

"Bye, love," ma said. "See you soon."

"Love you," I said, slipping outside. I shut the door firmly behind me and disbelief came to greet me. I couldn't believe my plan had worked. I didn't even give "Alison" a last name. Only that she was a friend in school and that she invited me to go to Spain with her and her mother, and that her father was 'out of the picture' . It was such a load of crap I had a hard time keeping a straight face when ma kept asking questions about my mysterious new friend. Giving a description was the hard part. My imaginary friend is tall, red – headed rugby addict and wants to be an interior designer when she grows up. I had given that a lot of thought before ma had asked me.  
I pulled the bobbin that had secured a plait in my hair as I reached the road ; my shortcut to the hospital and the park. I zipped down my blue Adidas jacket and tried to look like it was the most normal thing in the world to be walking on a deserted road at twilight. I didn't dress up much : just my jacket, my black jeggings, white t – shirt and navy shoes. I came prepared. My bag contained deodorant ; it was now a major concern to have none and I was sure Aaya would be interested in the teenage needs of the modern world. There was also two t – shirts, underwear, fluffy socks, a toothbrush and a woollen cardigan with Indian – type designs, which I thought would be appropriate. And lastly, a crumpled note. I zipped open my bag and rooted around until I had grasped it in my palm. I took it out and read it again, just as the last of the light faded from the sky.

You needn't worry about creepy guys in cars. You'll be safe at all times. I promise. Peter.

I walked casually and silently into the trees, gripping the note. The memories from my recent encounter there sent a shiver down my spine. Although Peter's promise was committed to my safety I couldn't help feeling fearful. I kept it together just barely, and decided to focus on the upside of my return to Neverland. My mother and Joseph wouldn't have to worry about me. Nobody would. They would go on with their lives as normal, waiting for my return from 'Spain' . Although I felt bad for lying to them, it seemed a much better way if you thought about it. They wouldn't have to worry at all, wouldn't have to wonder if I was alive or dead. That thought made me feel a little better. I hated having to lie, but sometimes I wondered if that was really true, because I seemed to be an extraordinaire.  
I looked straight ahead, the lights of a nearby house across the street that I hadn't noticed before catching the corner of my eye. I kept on, hoping I hadn't been seen. But even if I was, there was nothing to do about it. I didn't think I knew anybody living in the house anyways.

I saw a figure a few metres ahead and stopped suspiciously.

"It's only me, Remy," Peter said. "I told you that you'd be safe. Are you ready?"

I breathed a sigh of relief and skipped towards him until we were hardly centimetres apart.

"I'm ready."

He smiled at me in the darkness, and I clutched his hand.

**Alex's Pov :**

**I watched her disappear into the trees only moments ago, unaware of my gaze. What in God's name was she doing there? And it was dark outside. She had always seemed so shy ; I didn't ever think she'd enter those woods alone at this time. Didn't she know it could be dangerous…? What was she doing anyway? I followed every movement that the trees were making, seeing if there was a connection. If she was making them move. But they all just seemed to rustle casually in the wind, and that annoyed me. Was she safe? Maybe if I followed her…..no, she'd just be freaked out. Then it'd be awkward for ages between us. Remy, what are you doing? I worried a little. It felt weird. I'd known her all my life but never really thought like THAT about her before. Protective. I knew what I would do. I would call round the next morning, see what she was up to. No, then she'd know I was watching her. I'd ask her to hang out then, and bring the whole thing up casually, without her twigging what I was at. I wasn't all together sure how I was going to do that though.  
I couldn't take my eyes off the woods. They wouldn't let me and just kept preparing myself for a sight of her, just to confirm my hopes of her well being.**

**Just when I was about to give up something caught my eyes, forcing them to keep a still gaze. A great glow panned out amongst every single tree there, creating a shadow on the road that separated the woods and my house. Immediately a few trees around it disappeared, along with the glow. And then everything seemed normal again, like the air had been untouched. I gaped at the scene, unable to believe what I had just witnessed. Whatever had happened, I knew it was Remy's doing. She had always kept to herself, and I guessed I had just seen why.**

**A/N : **_**Now then! I guess I put you on a spin, but it'll make sense eventually, trust me.**__**Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year! Updates soon! **___


	18. A Demented Sean

**Alex's Pov:**

**They were all sitting in front of me, waiting for an explanation. Sean and Jamie were sitting on my bed, while Jason, Aaron and Eddie (Edward) plonked down on my old football beanbags they dragged out from the corner minutes earlier.**

"**So why'd you ask us to come over?," Jason finally asked, the others nodding in agreement. "Cause I know when something's up with you, man. You look all weird and you have a face like stone. So spill."  
They were my friends. I had to tell them, especially Sean.**

"**Y'know Remy?," I asked.  
"My Remy?," Sean asked, his eyes narrowing.  
I gulped. He was very protective of her. "Yeah. Remy from class."  
The others nodded.  
"She…I saw her last night. Going into the woods. I'm kinda worried. I…went to her house this morning, got a lift into town. Her ma said she was gone to Spain for the holidays with her friend Alison from class. And yet there is no "Alison" in our class. And Sean, I know you and her are pretty tight. I'd bet she doesn't even hang out with the other girls in our class." I paused to look at him. He shook his head, looking just as shocked as any of the others, who were all staring at me. I cleared my throat. "So she doesn't hang around with anybody else. And she never came back from the woods last night. My heads pretty screwed up about it."**

**There was silence.**

"**Wow," Jamie finally said. "You've been doing your homework.  
"No!," I insisted. "Just trying to find out what was going on."  
"You want us to go to the woods to find her, don't you?," Jason asked warily.  
"We don't know what happened to her. And…I saw something."  
"What?," Sean demanded.**

"**A few seconds after she went into the woods, a big kind of glow appeared and went again. And…some of the trees disappeared."**

"**She's an alien," Jamie whispered. The lads were sent into uncontrollable sniggers, except for Sean, who was looking very worried. I wasn't impressed, and Jamie saw my face. "Sorry. But here, we should just go to the Garda station. If she spent all night out there in the cold, she could be de-"**

**Sean jumped up unexpectedly and stared Jamie straight in the eye before he could say any more. It was Jamie's turn to gulp. Sean turned away from him and stood to face the rest of us.**

"**Remy is the strongest person I know," he said, startling us with a very sure edge to his voice. "She's had a tough life in the past two years. She's been through more than any of us put together. She's special, and she's always been there for me. She's alive, and well. I can feel it, and it's not wishful thinking. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going out there right now and finding her. And if you're too scared of a few trees, then run home to your mammy."**

**The lads looked surprised. Sean was always a quiet person, but he had a strong voice and a will to find Remy. I stood up.**

"**I'm going with you. Anybody else?"**

**Eddie and Aaron stood up, followed by Jason, and then finally, Jamie.**

"**Good. Let's go."**

**A few minutes later we entered the woods, Sean and Jason scouring ahead. I had told them to look for big holes in the ground, because that was most likely the place where the trees had disappeared with the glow, which obviously had something to do with Remy. Hmm. I privately agreed with Jamie for doing my homework on this one.**

**So far, all the search had turned up was trees and bushes. No sight of a human being. I looked at Jamie who was beside me. His face was white.**

"**Aw man. What happened to her?," he whispered.**

**I was just about to answer him when I was interrupted by a huge yell.**

"**Aw shit!," Jason yelled.**

**I raced forward, fearing the worst. "What happened!?"**

"**Looks like we found the holes," Sean said.**

**I looked down and he was right. Five holes all in a circle were in the ground, big enough to be what a tree once occupied.**

"**He tripped over one. Think this is the place? Think this is where she went?"**

**I nodded immediately. "Positive. She can't be far then. Look for clues, she might have left something behind. Something to tell us where she is." It was a dull suggestion and the atmosphere was full of doubt, but Sean was all for it and began scraping his hands through the leaves on the ground. I started too, but it didn't seem to be turning up anything except dead leaves.**

"**Hey!," Eddie yelled. "I found something! I don't know what it is though…"**

**When I looked up Sean was the first by his side. Eddie seemed to be focusing on a round pile of leaves that looked to have a lot of layers. It was hidden beneath the leaves well, like nobody wanted it to be found. Like Remy didn't want to be found. When Eddie had brushed the leaves off of the object, he looked dumbfounded and held it up for all of us to see. Sean was staring at it.**

"**It's…sort of like a crystal ball," he said, disappointed. Eddie looked different, like he knew something we didn't.**

"**Eddie, what is it?," I asked.**

**He scrunched up his nose, and suddenly his face lit up.**

"**It was this!," he said happily. "This was it!"**

"**What are you **_**on**_** about?," Sean demanded.**

**Eddie said nothing but simply removed one of his hands from the crystal ball and flicked it.**

_**Lights**_** appeared. They moved casually, their beam changing direction when more appeared. Eddie was staring into the ball, eyes widened.**

**As for me, my face had just dropped. The others were looking about as hopeless as me. Sean was staring into the ball also.**

"**Trees…," Sean whispered. "I see trees."**

"**Me too," Eddie whimpered.**

"**That made the lights," I said. "If we hit it harder, it might make the lights brighter like I saw. Do it again, Eddie."**

**Eddie looked round at all of us fearfully and brought his hand up in the air, then swinging it back down.**

**All I heard next were screams, my own and others. The light was dazzling and I shut my eyes tightly as well as my mouth, listening to Jamie's screams only as we plunged down and down…..THUD.**

**I opened my eyes again and gasped. I was lying on my back on grass, staring up at trees. Beautiful, green trees. I noticed the sky was a brilliant blue with not a single cloud. It wasn't like anything I had ever seen before in my life, and I was astounded by it. My eyes weren't able to get enough.**

"**Where are we?," Eddie whispered.**

"**I don't know," I said. "But far away from Ireland and our homes. I can tell ya that much."**

**I sat up and looked around me. Every single one of the lads were in the exact same position I was – taking in the beautiful scenery while lying on their backs. My eyes flickered towards Sean and I was surprised to see him smiling like an idiot. Before I could ask, he already started talking.**

"**She's here," he said happily. "Remy's here."**

"**How d'you know?," I asked warily.**

"**One day she told me about a dream she had," he said excitedly. "She said in her dream she visited a different world, where the sky never contained a cloud, how the rain ceased to exist, and how beautiful it was, completely covered in green. No pollution whatsoever. She was about to go further when she stopped herself and said that was all she could remember. And now I see, it wasn't a dream – she's here!"**

"**Remy Kingsley! Where are you? It's Sean, and the lads! Remy!"**

**He stopped yelling and looked at me. "She can't be far! Come on lads, get up! Get up get up get up!"**

"**Sean," I said seriously as Eddie and Aaron simultaneously began to get to their feet. "If Remy said this was a dream, she clearly didn't want you knowing about this place. And she had good reason. It could be dangerous!"**

"**Nope!," Sean said brightly. "When she was going on about her 'dream', that means she's been here before! Why would she come back if it was dangerous?" He laughed happily. I sighed in exasperation. Sean was away with the fairies.**

**Jason and Jamie were finally on their feet along with Aaron and Eddie, awaiting instruction.**

"**Um…so, we need to find Remy. And, uh, listen to Sean if he catches wind of her. And…um…"**

"**I think we should split up," Sean said brightly. "We'll cover more ground."**

"**Are you demented?," said Jamie. "We don't even know where we are!"**

**I sighed. "Aaron and Jamie, you guys go right. Eddie, Sean and me will go left. If you find her, come find us. Remember your tracks, I reckon this is our base if we don't find her today."**

**A/N: I know! I haven't updated in forever, and I'm so sorry **** I've been caught up in school essays, stories, paintings, all of that. And the other half of the time I'm making up new scenes in my head for later on in the story. I hope I haven't lost my readers, and I apologise a thousand times over. Hope you enjoy this. ~G**


	19. The Search

"So what you're saying is," Peter said slowly to Raybha, "Is that we need The Sword of Anmil to break the link between us all?"

Raybha shrugged. "I can't see any other way," she said simply. "This is a difficult problem."

"How is it? There must be some other way!"

"It is difficult to break the bond of friendship and love between human beings!," Raybha snapped. "Do not be rude!"

I resisted the temptation to laugh at Peter's sheepish face.

"Why are you freaking out about some sword, Peter? Get the sword, do whatever we have to do and then BAM! I can go on living my life and you and the others don't have to grow up. Simples."

I thought after I said this it sounded harsh in some way, but the treading of feelings between Peter and I had disappeared. I was trying to give off the impression that this task barely meant anything to me, but really it was eating me up inside. The idea of breaking down all the bridges I had built with Peter, Curly, Aaya, Tootles and the Village just seemed a ridiculous idea. I wasn't altogether sure what 'breaking the bond' meant but I knew that I probably would never see anybody from Neverland again in the aftermath. That hurt.

"I'm freaking out about 'some sword' because…," Peter said, interrupting my thoughts. He sighed. "Raybha, can you explain? I can't remember half the story."

Raybha sighed dramatically, her breath releasing yet more weird smells in her tent. It hadn't changed much, but the entire atmosphere of the village had. I guessed people were changing as the finally began to grow older, but I didn't have a solid idea. Raybha, on the other hand, had not changed a single bit.

"So, my child," she began in a dramatic voice. "Many, many years ago, only a while after the tribe had settled in Neverland, a large dispute broke out between the Tribe and the deceased Captain Elizabeth and her crew. Not that there was any peace between us and them in the first place….."

I sneaked a peek at Peter. He was gazing at Raybha, listening intently.

"This," she continued, "was also a great time before Peter and the others came upon this world. Our sword, The Sword of Anmil, was the great weapon of the legendary Chief Udayan, Aaya's Great Great Grandfather."

"How do you know he was Aaya's Great Great Grandfather?," I asked curiously.

"My dear," she said, giving a rumbling laugh, "I was there for his birth! Although I admit I look very young indeed" –I had to smile at this – "all is not what it seems to the human eye! Anyways, the Pirates knew that this sword was of great power, and with great power comes great responsibility. Chief Udayan was long dead but his sword was kept in a safe place in Neverland ; where nobody would think to look. The Pirates had heard some of our people talking about its great powers and forced it out of them by torture, and they were returned to us badly wounded and scarred. Of course there was no blame, but for a long time afterwards Captain Elizabeth badgered us for answers to the whereabouts of the sword, but we did not budge. The sword has been left untouched in its hiding place and remains there now."

I blinked. "Well, that's….interesting. Does that mean we can get all this done in a day? Even less? We just need to find the sword! Raybha, where is it?"

"Oh." She scratched her head. "I do not know. It was hidden long ago by Chief Udayan's friends, whom he trusted completely."

"Brilliant! Whereabouts are they?"

"Dead. Killed in an attack by the Pirates a long long time ago."

My face dropped. "Dead?," I barely whispered. "How are we supposed to find the sword then?"

"Use your head," she said simply. "Find a way. You are a smart girl, Remy. You are brave and strong. I wouldn't think this task would take you too long."

**Alex's Pov :**

"**Come…on…Sean…," I puffed. "Let's…just…stop…"**

"**Yeah…," Eddie barely managed. "Let's…take…a break…."**

**Sean was still bounding ahead, although his cheerfulness had turned sour. We had spent many hours in the search for Remy, and it had so far turned up nothing. It was obvious Sean was worried, but his mood had taken a turn for the worse in Eddie's and my case.**

"**No!," he insisted hoarsely. "She must be around here somewhere!"**

**He coughed again, his throat probably dry from yelling Remy's name.**

"**Look, mate," I wheezed, "If…if we don't stop now we'll have no energy for tomorrow, will we Eddie?" I nudged him sharply in the ribs.**

"**Ow…I mean, yeah! We've gone too far to go back…we'll round up the others in the morning and search for the entire day. We'll find her then. Let's just stop here for the night."**

**I couldn't see Sean in the dark and although he made no move to answer I could tell he was hesitating.**

"**Come on, Sean," I said.**

"**Just…just a little bit further?," he pleaded hoarsely. "Please? Then I promise we'll stop."**

**I felt Eddie looking at me, waiting for my answer.**

"**Oh…**_**fine**_**. Five more minutes, okay?"**

"**Thanks, mate."**

"**Are you sure this is a good idea?," Eddie muttered to me as we followed Sean who had set off again. "We can't even see where we're going, and we don't even have a fair sense of where we are."**

"**It's been like that for a good while now," I muttered back. "He's worried. It won't do any harm."**

**Eddie sighed, but didn't argue.**

"**Remy…," I heard Sean croak ahead. "Oh, where are you?"**

**His voice cracked. He tried to call Remy again but I heard was a small squeal and then silence.**

"**Sean?," I called out. "You okay?"**

**Eddie and I quickened our pace but eventually bumped into Sean.**

"**What's wrong?," Eddie asked. "What'cha squealing for?"**

"**Can't – talk," he managed.**

**I smiled but quickly hid it, even though Sean had no way of seeing me.**

"**You lost your voice? Well, there we go," I said. "Looks like we should settle down for the night, boys. We'll follow Eddie's plan. And Sean, give your voice a rest. Remy **_**has**_** to be safe, okay? Remember? She wouldn't come back here again if it was dangerous, right? She's fine."**

"**That's grand by me," Eddie said, and I heard him fall back onto the ground. I expected leaves or plants to crunch but there was only silence. "Oh, lads," he said, yawning. "I'm shattered. See you in the morning."**

**I was stunned at how normally Eddie acted, but I guessed it was to calm down Sean's temporarily fragile mind. So I dropped onto the ground, feeling what I found to be the softest grass I had ever felt. I felt Sean drop down as well a few centimetres away from me.**

"**We'll find her tomorrow, Sean," I whispered.**

"**I know I said she wouldn't come back if this place was dangerous," he whispered back, his voice rough, "but why would she lie to everyone? To me? She…she left home ages ago, she ran away. She said she'd never do it again, and I know she was telling the truth. I think she might be in some kind of trouble."**

**I wanted to ask him a lot of questions about his statement, but I thought it would be best not to at that particular time.**

"**I…I'm sure she's fine," I said awkwardly.**

"**But why would she lie to me? Unless she was trying to protect me from something…"**

**I heard him turn away, and pretty soon he was snoring.**

**I was thankful. I didn't know what to say to his suspicions.**


End file.
